Crisis
by Lady Kyoshoku
Summary: Two competing companies have somehow created the end of our world, and there's nothing left to do but fight for survival and try to start over. I never expected anything of my life, but then I met him... The one that would help me end it all. AU, ItaSaku.
1. Prolouge: i m a g i n e

If anyone wants to have a character in it, PM me. Word count this time was 4, 163. Fic rated M with good reason.

I do not own Naruto, just the zombies and the plot.

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_It was five years ago._

_Japan was in its prime, everything completely in order and at peace, though the country itself had strove to create something to protect us. Privately funded pharmaceutical corporations popped up all over the country, claiming that they were around to provide medical assistance to those hospitals that needed it. And, of course, considering Tokyo was so huge at the time we needed all the help we could get. It seemed that nothing would really be amiss, but no one truly knew what went on behind the scenes of the two top companies: The Uchiha Corps and Senju Associates._

_Of course no one knew. The government had not only been employing them for medicine, but also to create biological warfare, and the two competing companies strived to gain the government's respect and protection. Newer models of firearms were created, along with numerous viruses and mass murder weapons. Not one civilian had any idea, and at the time, neither did I. _

_But something that one of the companies was developing changed all that. It did not take long before Senju and Uchiha began to compete seriously, and yakuza ties and illegal trade were soon in order to keep everything hushed up and secretive. No one knew that they had been taking human subjects to test on, that their facilities operated underneath the city and that they dumped the waste into small areas in the countryside… Except for one virus. _

_This particular thing was supposed to bring the end to everything: it was ultimate. Of course when word was leaked to the opposing company, they had to have it by any means possible. They were going to keep it, yes, but first they would show their competitors who was really boss. Contacts were made within both companies and through hospitals and politicians, and it was soon arranged that it was going to be stolen. They employed the best of the best to take it from within, replacing it with a fake to keep down suspicion. _

_As it turns out, the thief had no idea what the virus did, and neither did their clients. It was asked to use a phial to infect the entire company with it, and then leave without another word. _

_This virus was potent. It would infect the body easily, and soon transform the host into a completely different person. The thief injected it into a single worker, and what happened to her was gruesome and something that I did not learn about until I was forced to help treat people, though I was completely unaware to what it really did. Nobody knew just what it did, or how incredibly infectious it was. It was like something out of a goddamn Hollywood horror flick…_

_Let me tell you about this. What the infection did was kill the host, and then reanimate the body. By stopping the heart and travelling to the brain it would transform it into an entirely new organ, completely oxygen-independent—something unheard of—and impaired the body in many ways. The host could not think, could not speak but merely release a low, keening moan when they spotted their prey. They did not bleed, they did not feel pain, they did not sleep. These creatures needed nothing but sustenance, and even then there was no real need for it: they only desired human flesh. _

_Gross, isn't it? First you're infected and then your body begins to shut down, starting with pain from the infection's entrance and then numbness of joints, then delirium and decreased motor function, paired with numbness…Then you fall into a coma and die. Within 23 hours of being infected, your body is reanimated into one of these ghouls, and you can't even stop it. There was no antivirus, and that was the worst thing, because it could be transmitted by a bite, a scratch, even the blood of one of these undead bitches getting into one of your wounds would turn you into one of them. _

_The company had no idea about what a grand scale this infection would take, though within three days the entire facility of developers was infected and roaming in search of their next meal. The employers of the thief panicked, and shut down the labs to try and quarantine everyone… But they had waited too late. One infected person had escaped in the early stages, heading to the nearest hospital and begging for treatment. That was all it took to bring the entire world to its knees, and I was there. _

_Employed as an emergency doctor at the age of twenty-two, I was one of the… Well, I would not say lucky, but I was certainly more fortunate than some other people. I was the youngest doctor there, and female to top it all off, and it had never been expected that I would be a survivor. I can still completely recall the day that the young man came stumbling in, his face gaunt with a sickly grey pallor and the bite on his neck a gruesome purple gash, surrounded by brown and rings of red. I had never seen such a thing before, but I knew it was in my best interests to treat it. It was my job. _

_If I had known what it was, exactly, I would have stayed the fuck away and killed the bastard to put him out of his misery, but of course I didn't. I didn't even know what had happened or why the virus had hit until I met him: my partner, the one person I can depend on. But of course he wasn't around yet, and there was nothing else I could do but treat the shaking man who was moaning in pain, writhing as the nurses held him down so he could be inspected and—so it was thought—treated. _

**March 22nd: 6:43 AM**

**Tokyo General Hospital**

"Good morning to you, too."

Her voice was tired, having just arrived at the hospital after a few hours of sleep and a cup of much needed coffee. Her skirt was tight and pressed, her blouse open a few buttons and slightly wrinkled. It would have been perfectly ironed, but the woman in question did not have the time to iron her clothing. She was on call nearly all of the time, her godmother being the director of the hospital she was employed in and almost always bringing her back to work because apparently there was no one else that could be trusted with such a thing. It always made the young woman groan, because she knew that everyone else was just as fine a medic as she.

But she was new, and did need the experience. She already had an office here, and that was probably where she would be changing into her scrubs and drinking the last bitter dregs of coffee before she was pulled back into reality by the whimpers and cries of pain and distress that filled her ears as each day of work passed. Why she had brought such a hard life upon herself was no one's business but her own, and quite honestly she was not sure. Everyone had always told her that she should be a model or something, because her colouring and features made her rather unique among others of her ethnicity.

Once again, though, it was a matter of her self-confidence: she was only proud of her intelligence, and had therefore taken it and her skills and shoved it into the medical world. The young woman had passed her classes easily, graduated, and was now walking towards her office to get ready for the job that she had wished for, dreamed for. Her life was running pretty well: she went on dates every now and then, made money, paid her bills on time, and hung out with friends on a regular basis (more like when she had time, because being the over-achiever she was, it was nearly impossible to find such a thing).

The woman let out a sigh, finally unlocking the glass door that lead to her book-filled office. It was comfortable, she supposed, but not something that she would want to live in. Furnished in dark wood with dim lighting, it seemed more like something out of a horror movie than belonging to a hospital. She brought out her bag, removing her professional clothing and settling for the more practical scrubs that she had grown accustomed to. The pale pink fabric matched her hair, and was paired with the white coat and runners that signified her as a doctor. A badge was clipped to the pocket above her right breast, displaying the horrendous picture that had become mandatory.

Glancing in the mirror, she noticed just how drab she looked: there were concealed bags under her eyes, pale pink strands of hair falling across pale skin and verdant eyes. She looked old for her age, but the youth still kept her cheeks reddened and full, balancing her heart-shaped face so that it looked more angelic than it had in her younger days. That was not to say that she was a large woman, or even curvy, for that matter: the medic was as thin as a twig and had barely anything to accent her figure. Or so she said: she did not take to compliments well, and though she craved a lover she refused to take one... She never felt pretty enough for it.

And of course these thoughts were filling her head once again, and it caused her to flop back into her chair with a sigh, grabbing her travel mug of coffee and bringing the stale brew to her lips. The bitter taste stung her throat when she remembered she had added no sugar, and her pouty lips curled into a grimace as she put the mug down. There was no way in hell she was finishing that shit... It tasted like the underside of her stilettos, and she had no idea where those had been since Ino had taken them. That bitch...

And speaking of the bitch, just as she was about to put her feet up on her desk she just _had_ to walk in, all flustered like and looking as if she had just seen a ghost, which automatically meant that something was terribly, terribly wrong. The blonde's cheeks were flushed, her hair in disarray as the door flew open somewhat melodramatically, and the rosette couldn't really help but raise an eyebrow in disapproval. Ino was being a tad over-the-top, even if they did work in a hospital... But she supposed it was merited. There had to be something that was worth all of this, and the young woman was just about to comment when Ino cut her off.

"Sakura!"

The woman winced at Ino's tone, viridian eyes squeezing shut at the panic and slight shrillness to the voice. The blonde had apparently slammed the door when she had opened it, and a picture had fallen... Well then. That was certainly the last time she brought something nice to work. Sakura parted her lips in yet another sigh, finally opening her sleepy eyes to fix the panicked woman with a bored stare. It wasn't fair to already doubt her fellow medic's abilities, but this was not the first time that she had done something like this. Everything else that had started like this had been something like a cold or yet another STI case... and Sakura really did not want to deal with that at the moment.

"Ino, if you would calm down for a second and would lower your voice I'd be happy to—"

"Sakura, there is not time for your sarcasm!" The other woman was practically screaming at her, and Sakura found herself still not quite alarmed. Sure, there was a degree of concern there, but there was no reason for her to be scared yet. Sakura sat up straight, her eyes intently fixed on the flustered blonde. By the looks of it she seemed to really be panicking, and she couldn't help but feel a bit worried... As she went to speak once again, she was indeed cut off for a second time, but this time Ino actually had a bit of information for her, which was fucking fantastic.

"We have a man in the ER who we don't have a diagnosis for. No one knows what's wrong with him... We think he's dying." Ino had always been terrible with the ER, constantly crying every time they lost someone. It was not really their fault if they couldn't fix it, but the blonde woman had a hard time with it ever since she had lost her old teacher and close friend, Asuma. And as much as Sakura would have loved to sit and have a minute to relax, but there would always be some injured person who needed help. Sakura got up from her chair, walking past the blonde at a brisk pace while pulling her pink locks into a high, messy ponytail.

"Lead the way, Ino."

What she saw when she entered the tented space was definitely something that Sakura had not been prepared for.

The man in question was literally trying to tug himself out of the restraints given; crying out that he couldn't be in a public room because he would kill everyone. Of course everyone's first instinct was that he was crazy, and though she was fairly sure he was, she still had to treat the poor bastard. Well, attempt to. Everyone else there had thought the same thing when they had seen him, and that was 'Holy shit, what the hell is _that_?'

'That' was the bite on his neck, which was an ugly myriad of colours and textures. Blood oozed slowly from it, staining the immediate area crimson, though the wound itself was purple and brown, the skin greyish. It looked completely dead... The bite was deep enough that she could see the bone underneath, the tendons, muscles and skin being completely ripped away. It was a miracle that he wasn't dead, because the wound had barely clotted over and the veins that spider webbed away from it looked as if he had been poisoned (which was close to the truth, but she didn't know that). According to the nurse that was chattering away in Sakura's ear, he had been here for about seven hours.

Seven goddamn hours and no one had told her? What the fuck. Seriously. He was already had an IV, being restrained, and then he was being left unattended... Even Sakura knew that there should always be a nurse and that he should be in the ICU. It did not take long before the rosette was nearly at her exploding point because of all the yelling and flailing and what not... Fuck, this day was not going to be a good one. The day before her birthday, too... She hated life. Hated it. The medic told the nurse to shut the hell up before setting to work, calling in people to move the man to a stretcher and to be taken down to the ICU.

Once set up she counted down from three, lifting the fabric below him to raise him onto one of the moving beds. They hooked him up once again, strapping the male down even though he had begun to go limp. Sakura kicked the locks off the wheels, and began to push out into the hallway. They were nearly around the corner, nurses working to keep the man alive and moving rather fast before she nearly hit someone... A tall, black-haired male in a suit, looking at the patient with disdain and coldness.

"Shit!" Sakura cursed aloud, turning the stretcher so that she would not hit the mysterious figure. "What the hell? You shouldn't be in the way!" Her voice was angry, her heart nearly beating out of her chest at the scare he had caused her. What a bitch... But he was pretty good looking, she had to admit. His eyes caught hers, glinting a dark, midnight blue as his lips parted to speak to her. His voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but she caught every word... Things were almost moving in slow motion.

"_Kill him, Sakura."_

Her eyes widened in shock, and she was about to make a comment about how horribly cruel that was when he pushed past her and stepped back into the ER, exiting with as much nonchalance as he had entered with. But there was more on hand then that, and it took a bit of shaking from one of the nurses, probably Ino, to get her moving once more.

**March 23rd: 5:42 AM**

**Tokyo General Hospital**

Sakura awoke rather groggily, having fallen asleep in the lounge on the couch. She had been here since yesterday's morning, and she had just realized now that it was her birthday. Well, what a great day to turn twenty-two years old. She should probably have been happy, but she was far from it. The encounter yesterday with that man... It was all she could think about. The fact that he knew her name was something that was bothering her, though she had been wearing a nametag... It was as if he had known her from somewhere. He looked familiar, yes, but she couldn't put face to name. Goddamn, something about all of that was seriously getting to her...

Not to mention that the fact her patient had been declared deceased, as the sticky note oh-so-conveniently stuck to her forehead told her. A loud groan escaped her lips, because that meant she had to call the family and tell them, comfort them and release the body and what not... Though the strange thing is that they could find nothing on the man. No file, no records, nothing. He had no ID on him, and they had run his face and fingerprints through the system and _still_ nothing. That meant that the bill was going to fall onto the family, and that was not good news either...

But hey, she needed to get paid somehow.

She dragged herself off of the nice, warm couch and skulked off to get herself some more coffee. It filled the ceramic glass, and the young woman took it black this time so the milk in it would not go sour, because she knew that she would just end up leaving it on the counter like she always did. The medic sipped it quietly, thinking to herself about exactly what she would say and do when a piercing scream filled the air. The sounds startled Sakura and she dropped the cup and broke it, slicing open her hand as she tried to clean up.

Curses flowed from her full lips as she wiped the blood onto her coat, not having time to clean anything before running out into the hallway and sprinting full speed down to the room that the noise had come from. It was a good thing she had a great memory, or she would have forgotten exactly where it had come from... But as she drew closer, Sakura soon changed her mind about that. The room would not have been hard to find: she could see now why the screaming had even started.

Blood was pooling underneath the door, and that could so not be a good thing. Fresh, too. Gross...

What the hell had just happened here, anyway? Sakura grimaced, and was just about to open the door when she heard a low, keening moan and a very loud crunch. That... was not a happy sound. Not happy at all... Sakura began to think that maybe, just maybe she should go and get a security officer, but it wasn't long until a couple came around the corner, being followed by Ino. Some type of relief flooded through her system as they drew closer, and Sakura gladly stepped away from the door to allow them access to the room.

"What happened, Sakura?" Ino's voice was high and squeaky, her blue eyes wide in fear. Sakura was a bit apprehensive, sure, but there was no reason to be utterly terrified... Right? Sakura knew this room, the room of her patient, and knew that the man was dead. It's not like the dead could just come back to life and go on murderous rampages...

"I don't have the slightest clue, Ino, I really don't."

Just as she said that, one of the security guys—his nametag read "Akihiko"—figured out how to open the door, and finally pushed it open so that they could peer inside. What happened next happened so quickly that it was barely registered, but it was definitely not good.

As Akihiko poked his head inside everyone else leaned closer, nearly peering in the doorway when his head was grabbed by a pair of clammy, grey hands and pulled inside with another one of those awful moans. He yelled loudly, but it was cut off into a gurgle as Sakura once again heard the crunch. It was barely audible over the sound of Ino's screams, but there was no mistaking that sound. It was gross, and something that wouldn't leave the rosette's ears for as long as she managed to live. The sickening sound of a man's throat being ripped out.

The other guard grabbed his gun from the holster, taking open fire against the figure in there, and Sakura moved to get a better look out of morbid curiosity and fascination of the situation. She was scared shitless, but she had to know what had just happened... She thought she was prepared for it, but the second she looked in she could see why the door had been closed. It was gruesome, it really was.

There were two bodies on the floor, covered in blood and sprawled out, as if they were discarded toys on the floor. They weren't dead because Sakura could see the young nurse's—the one who must have screamed initially—chest heaving, her scrub shirt torn open and bites scattered over her collarbones and neck. They looked the same as the ones that her patient had been inflicted with... Speaking of her patient, what the hell had happened to him? He... He was supposed to be dead...

Not bent over Akihiko, gnawing away as if he were starved. Her eyes widened, transfixed upon the scene laid out in front of her. Sakura had never been a fan of horror movies, but now... Now she was living one. She couldn't bring herself to scream, but Ino did it for her: the supposedly dead man raised his head at the sound, his face covered in the sticky crimson fluid that was also on the floor. As if that wasn't bad enough he raised himself up off of the floor, those mottled grey lips opening to their fullest extent to groan once more and begin to hobble towards her.

She couldn't move or think as the other guard continued firing on the...zombie, as it looked... came towards them, but they did nothing. Every bullet hit its mark—legs, chest, arms—but nothing happened. No blood, no screaming anything...The ghoul just kept coming towards Sakura, arms outstretched towards her and bloodshot eyes trained on her. Everything seemed to fall into slow motion, Sakura hardly realizing that Ino was shaking her and telling her to run, but she couldn't. Her breath caught in her throat, her body completely paralyzed as the undead man came towards her... Fuck, why couldn't she move!

Just as she was about to just sit and accept her fate, one more bullet pierced the air, going straight through the zombie's skull. The man dropped to the floor, but he did not bleed, nor did he move... Twitched a bit, sure, but Sakura was fairly sure he was dead for good this time. The medic was honestly ready to kiss the person who had just saved her ass, and the second she regained movement she whipped around to look at her saviour... It was not who she had expected. Sakura sputtered and took a step back, not understanding anything that had just happened.

It was the man in the suit, holding a slightly smoking 9mm handgun.

"What're...? Who are...? I don't..." Sakura gasped. It felt like all the air had left her lungs, but she didn't really care. She was so, so grateful to him... Fuck, on her birthday, too. What a great time for zombies to show up on the planet. There was no one else there, just him... What had happened? How did he know how to kill that... that _thing_?

"You will know soon enough... And happy birthday."

With that he was gone, leaving her alone here in the bloody mess, with nothing but confusion to think about.

"Yeah... Happy fucking birthday to me."

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Updated: 10/12/10


	2. I: Lead Aspirin

Well, I got this done a lot sooner than I thought I would. :D But it is done, and it is here, and yeah.

Soundtrack for this chapter is _What Comes Around (Day of the Dead Mix)_ by Ill Nino. Read, and reviews do make me happy and write faster. :3 Enjoy!

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**C R I S I S - - P A R T O N E**

**I: L E A D A S P I R I N**

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_If I had to describe what the months after that incident were like, I would not know where to begin. Pandemonium was everywhere, people screaming and crying as masses of the undead came flooding in from the underground and the hospital. I had somehow escaped from the night with my first encounter with a zombie, and fled to my apartment with nothing but the memory of that man destroying the ghoul with a bullet to the brain and my mangled coworkers in my head. When I had been a young girl my father had trained me for combat, but I had never known why. He had always said _"You never know."

_But honestly, I had loved every second of it. After he had passed away a couple of years ago I had continued with my martial arts, learning everything I could so that I could survive in this huge city. I knew survival techniques, and how to fire weaponry commonly associated with hunting: the trusty Nighthawk. My father—who had been a police officer—had been so proud when I had finally mastered it, and said that when it came down to it I could survive through anything. I was devastated when he passed away right before my nineteenth birthday, but I had moved on with my life and dedicated every moment of training to him. _

_I never thought that one day I would be fighting for my life from a horde of undead. Yeah, maybe in my nightmares, but not like it was going to be an _actual_ issue in my lifetime. But when it happened, I knew what was going to happen here. Japan had a low crime rate and it was densely populated, and that meant that we had one of the most lightly-armed police and military forces out of the many Asian countries. With the virus being so infectious we were doomed: this whole nation was going to go to crap. _

_Of course there was some sort of evacuation being tried, and more people got out than what was intended. K9 dogs were used to sniff out those who were infected, and those who reeked of the infection were killed on the spot. More than half of virus-ridden people got aboard boats and planes, however, fleeing to the Rocky Mountains of Canada or other icy places. Zombies were captured and carted off to be dropped onto deserted islands, but they had not taken into consideration that they did not need any oxygen and were complete dipshits—I thought it was rather ironic that the brain had to be destroyed, in all honesty—and would walk right into the water and trudge along the bottom until they found a meal. _

_It was gruesome, watching the boats capsize from the force of so many zombies gripping it from the bottom and overturning the boats to get at the people above. Some tried to swim alongside the ships only to be ignored and pulled under, the ghoul's moans muffled by the water. To see a pair of hands reaching out at you from beneath the waves, mottled and grey, was frightening: it filed my nightmares for weeks, leaving nothing but fear in my heart as I tried to figure out a way to escape. _

_But something inside me told me that I would not make it if I followed along here. I cannot remember how many people asked me what I was doing when I made no effort to catch the boats, refusing help from others and keeping to myself. I wore long clothing, thick even for the chilly weather, to help protect me from the bites and scratches I would hate to sustain. Medic or not, there was no cure for this pandemic, and I could only watch my world crumble, and everyone I loved along with it._

_The most memorable thing was probably when my __neighbour__ became infected, and reanimated while I was sleeping, locked in my room. I didn't know of the super senses then, and thought that if I masked my scent and remained quiet I could sleep through the night. I kept a weapon by my bed—a crowbar—just in case, and slept lightly, though not lightly enough. Once my__ neighbour__ reanimated she came for me, breaking down the door and grasping my hair before I could react._

_Her face was inches from mine, the stench of decay and infection heavy on her, in nothing but her nightgown. I was terrified, my eyes wide, and all I could do was fumble around for my crowbar and flail to get away. I somehow tore her arm off from the elbow, and scrambled backwards before picking up the iron rod and taking a nice, even swing at her. It hit horizontally between her eyebrows and nose, crushing the bone in and destroying her brain. She dropped like a rock, and that was when I learned loose clothing and hair was not a good thing to have._

_After that it was months that I survived on my own, adopting a new appearance that kept my clothes tight to my body, my hair pinned up so it could not be grabbed and therefore making me vulnerable to those who were reanimated. The virus was spreading, and after the haven of Tokyo had crumbled I didn't know where to go. I stayed atop roofs and in air ducts, high away from the grabbing hands that would lead to my demise. The only weapon I had on hand was the crowbar, and that was not good in huge masses. I had to wait everything out, praying that someone would come save me. _

_And when they did, I learned things that I never wanted to know about this world, and I learned the name of the man in the suit—my __saviour__ and the most infuriating man I have ever met in my life. _

_From what I recall, I was sleeping at the time…_

**- - -**

**July 7****th****, 11:23 PM**

**Sunrise Apartments, Downtown Tokyo**

**8****th**** Floor Air Duct**

**- - - **

"_**What do you mean, the lab has been closed? You were supposed to give me the password."**__ A familiar voice, but one that did not have a face. A man, his back turned and hood up to protect his identity. It looked as if he were talking to herself, but upon closer inspection one could see that he was talking into a hand-held device. The other voice was static-filled, the crackle of small speakers a tell-tale sign of technology that hadn't been released to the general public yet. This voice was feminine and rather cold, but professional. _

"_**We told you the virus was too heavily guarded: you must wait. If you cannot get back in to complete the mission, it is none of our concern."**__ The man sighed, leaning against the tree behind him. The area was oddly familiar as well, but this one could be named. A small yellow house in the middle of a field… Why would this be happening there? Nothing there was of value... The only thing possible would be the locked door in the basement._

"_**You told me to protect her."**_

"_**I told you to pay attention to your surroundings. Her father told you that." **_

"_**You relayed the orders… Just give me the pass. I am at the location."**_

"_**That is classified information. And look out behind you." **__The tinny voice became smug, and the man in the hood tilted his head to see behind him._

"_**Well… Shouldn't you be inside?"**__ The young woman that he was talking to was stung, her pretty, seventeen-year old features contorting into a frown. Pink hair fell into her eyes as she came out from behind the tree, the man muttering a dismissal and turning to actually face her. __**"Am I right?"**_

"_**You're not my mother." **__She spat, crossing her arms over her chest. The girl struggled to meet the man's eyes, but when he finally looked up gemmed emerald met deep obsidian. Her lips parted in quiet surprise, and the last thing she remembered was his smirk and a flash of bright light._

**- - -**

Sakura awoke in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright and managing to hit her head against the top of the air duct with a loud _clang_. She cursed, rubbing her sore cranium as she flopped back down against her sleeping bag, hoping that the zombies that she could hear groaning beneath her would just disappear. This dream, a memory, had been haunting her for weeks since this whole ordeal had started, because she had finally managed to remember where it took place. The white light used to be the only thing she could recall, but now… Now she knew where that was.

Her childhood home: the pale yellow house in the middle of an abandoned field locating in a deep forest. She had always asked her father why they lived in the middle of nowhere, but he had always said it had been for the hunt, and she had always believed him. When she was seventeen, however, while her father was on a trip, she had gone out to explore the woods and came across a man. Of course she could never remember that part, but it was all different now that she could remember.

He had been talking into a phone, one where the person on the other side could somehow see her sneaking up on him. She had just been curious, following the voice she had heard towards the source. And what they had been talking about… It involved her house, and a password. A code to get in somewhere… Somewhere with a virus, and a dangerous one at that. It should have cleared things up, but it didn't. It just frustrated her, because she _knew_ the man from that memory, and had seen him as an adult, but…

The man had never shown up again… Well, at least before they had moved. After her father died they had moved to Tokyo, and had lived in an apartment since. That's probably why she felt somewhat comforted by hiding within them. It was uncomfortable, of course, but it's not like someone would find her up here. Once or twice she had run into a half-rotted corpse and nearly thrown up, but instead she shoved it out where it came from to bait the ghouls that were always roaming below. The stench up here was unbearable, and Sakura knew that she had to get out sometime soon, or she was going to run out of air.

She was immensely glad she was not claustrophobic as she crawled out of the sleeping bag, still grumbling about the pain in her head while her knees ground against the metal casing. Deft hands rolled the fabric into a tight coil, strapping it to the base of her back before pulling on her backpack with a heavy sigh. Her eyes were still bleary, and she couldn't help but feel like she was going to die.

Well, of course she was going to die. It was inevitable.

She just didn't want to be eaten alive.

The thought was what kept her going, crawling through the vent and occasionally looking down through the grates to make sure there were no zombies. She heard far-off groaning, meaning that someone was obviously being pursued, or that she was just moving too fast at the moment for them to catch up. Either way it looked like a good spot, and she pulled the grate out with ease before dropping out. A quick glance around told her it was safe, save for the Crawler—a zombie without legs—making its was towards her.

Rolling her eyes as she raised her crowbar, she brought it down on the creature's skull without so much as a second though. Black gunk and brownish brain chunks flew onto her knee-high boots, causing her to make a face of disgust. It was a good thins she was in a kitchen, because that gave her the chance to hunt for food and find a cloth to get rid of this crap. Sakura had made it a point to stay as clean as she could, and she did not plan on getting infected because she smashed one of their skulls in.

She trudged through the debris and rotted food until she located a semi-damp cloth that was hanging out of the sink. Good enough, since she did wear gloves out of sheer fear that she would somehow contract the virus that way. She had been a medic, after all, so she knew some things about keeping herself sanitary. She wiped the rest of the zombie brains from her boots, tossing the cloth back in the sink before searching for food. She was bound to find something eventually… right?

**- - -**

**July 7****th****, 12:42 AM**

**Sunrise Apartments, Downtown Tokyo**

**Lobby**

**- - -**

It was a couple hours later by the time Sakura had thoroughly ransacked the room, finding nothing but a few corpses and empty cans. It was a disappointment, and she almost wished there were a few zombies around for her to smash while she tried to reason something out. She would have to find somewhere new tonight, because by now they would be catching onto her scent and would come flooding in. It was called 'the chain', because if one ghoul moaned, another would hear a few clicks away and do the same, drawing in hundreds onto one subject. That would really, really not make her day…

But she knew this building was fairly empty for now: she had scouted it completely and found that she was the only one taking refuge in such a huge complex. It was sad, really, because she knew that there were others out there, but she was all alone. No one to talk to or watch her back: everything had to be done on her own. Not that she really minded… By the end of the day she was too tired to think, to eat, to even to find someone to fuck. Ugh, was she going to die a virgin?

That would suck. Her entire life had been so busy that she had never had a boyfriend in high school, let alone one in university. When she graduated it only got worse: she had nearly lost all contact with friends and even her family. The woman sighed, kicking over a chair as she sought her way towards the exit. She could see a fire burning on the street, and briefly wondered if there was anyone there. It was summer now, so she could not really depend on the weather to freeze the ghouls and make her life all the more easier.

One thing that did make her life easier, however, was the car she had procured during the panic. A police SUV, complete with laptop and backup generator. She had found a few things to up its security, including a shovel that had been forced onto it during the panic to knock the zombies out of the way, but there had been no weapons inside. She had cursed the world that day, but was rather grateful for the car and the fact that it had gas canisters shoved into the trunk. Since then it had been her vehicle, no matter where she went.

Maybe when this all blew over (Pffft, like that was going to happen) she would paint it. Sakura laughed softly at the inward joke, pulling open the door before sliding inside. The first place she needed to stop was the local supermarket, generally somewhere unsafe, but the radio in the SUV had said something about a platoon of policemen being taken down, and their weapons left. This was the zombie's idea of a banquet, meaning that there would not be many people there, but Sakura believed that maybe if she was sneaky enough she could get some kind of weapon. If she could fire a rifle, she was pretty sure she could master another gun.

Oh well. If all went well she would be fine, and things would be just peachy. Peachy… Yeah, right. She revved the engine, taking off due south in the direction of temporary salvation, and her potential demise.

**- - -**

**July 7****th****, 1:03 AM**

**Meigeku Superstore, Downtown Tokyo**

**Gardening Department**

**- - -**

Well, she was definitely lost. This was the last time that she ever, ever, ever went into a department store, especially when she should have known that it would be filled with, you guessed it, undead motherfuckers that had nothing better to do except for create a chain fucking reaction and bring hundreds upon hundreds of zombies crashing down about her ears on top of the fact that she only had a goddamn _crowbar._ That was not exactly helpful, considering that she was standing atop a shelf in the high-ceilinged gardening department, smashing skulls at lightning speed.

Damn it, why did she do this? Stupid, stupid, stupid… Sakura repeated the mantra under her breath in an angry whisper, shaking her foot to dislodge one of the ghouls before kicking its face in. The crunch was disgusting but she thought nothing of it. If she wanted to survive, she was going to have to find something else to hit these bitches with, and fast. Her precious crowbar was being bent out of shape, and she still needed the damn thing to help her along in regular situations.

Sakura had officially decided that the next time the zombie-apocalypse happened, it could happen somewhere else, because this was ridiculous.

The shelf she was standing on gave an ominous wobble, and Sakura knew that she was doomed. Damn, and she thought she had been doing so well, too… But she would not go down without a fight: she would not let herself just get dragged into a pile of stinky grey flesh and snapping jaws. Oh no, she would get out of this alive, if some fucking grace of the gods above would just show up and hit one of these things in the head.

As if on cue she heard the rev of a car and the sound of a gun. For once it seemed that the forces above were listening to her.

"YEAH BABY!"

A rather loud, obnoxious voice shouted over the rattle, and Sakura had to look down to see what was happening. Apparently someone else had thought this would be fun, and had procured a military vehicle that was equipped with a machine gun turret. Ghouls were flying all over the place, moaning and squishing as they hit walls and other shelves. The way was nearly clear, but the guy in the turret had not quite stopped yelling yet as a rather impressive string of obscenities left his mouth. A couple of times she heard something akin to "Dattebayo!", though she did not have the slightest clue what that meant.

She continued to puzzle over it until the vehicle hit the shelf she was standing on, and with a scream and a loud curse, Sakura toppled over the edge, landing in the back of the car. The man didn't seem to mind, and Sakura could finally see that he was blond, wearing a black netted shirt and orange—let me repeat that, ORANGE—cargo pants. There were scars on his cheeks that looked like whiskers, and his hair stuck up all over the damn place like a freaking sun.

Her mouth opened, about to shout an angry phrase when the car began to move and it was instead replaced with a squeak. Verdant eyes fell shut as it moved, her pale hands clutching onto the side of the trunk. She could still hear the gunshots, feel the wind in her hair, and did not complain as they left the immediate area. Things did not calm down for quite some time, and Sakura did not look up until she was sure they had stopped. Damn it… That was the last time she asked for help from the gods.

The woman looked around, ignoring the bickering going on between the blond man and what sounded like another male (probably the driver). They seemed to think she was asleep, though in reality she was merely glancing around to see where they were. It was still in downtown Tokyo, though it looked to be… A police station. Well, that would be a great place to get some weaponry… Though she was a bit afraid of the zombie concentration. On second thought, if these two were stopping here, it was probably safe.

"Hey teme, she's awake!" The loud voice drilled right into her brain, and Sakura had to let out a groan, hiding her face in her hands.

"Leave her alone, dobe." The second voice was quieter, smoother, and it sounded awfully familiar. She heard the blond one whine, which was quickly cut off by a "Shut up, Naruto."

"But we saved her! She should be bowing at my feet and totally hav—" The sentence was cut off by a yelp, as Sakura had kicked his feet out from under him, causing the blond named Naruto to land with a thud. She stood, hands on her hips, and looked down at him with a rather large amount of disdain.

"_Hey. _Just because you saved me does _not_ mean that I would 'reward' you." Sakura's brow twitched as she looked down at him, and felt nothing but wrath for the kid that had saved her (well, he was definitely not a kid… He looked to be twenty-one or so…). It only got worse when a goofy grin spread across his face, jumping up and bringing his face so close she could feel his nose touching hers.

What the hell did he think he was doing? The blonde's arm wrapped around her waist, pressing her body to his. Heat flooded her cheeks, but not from embarrassment. His breath tickled along her ear, and she could feel his teeth as he whispered to her…

"I never said you had to, I was just saying the maybe you and I could ditch the teme and get to know each other better…" Augh, who did this guy think he was? She could hear the other man, the one she hadn't even seen yet, telling Naruto to back off as her hands curled into fists.

"Naruto, you're going to get yourself killed like this..."

"Naw, she likes it, just watch…" His face descended on hers, but it didn't make it anywhere close before her closed, gloved fist collided with his jaw with a nice, loud crack (much more satisfying than the one the zombies made), sending him spiraling backwards and out of the vehicle. Her chest was heaving, verdant eyes glimmering with anger and satisfaction. The blond was whining, clutching his now-broken jaw, and the man behind her let out a soft chuckle.

That reminded her, who the fuck else was around? Sakura turned, and her lips parted in surprise as she gazed at the man in front of her. He looked exactly like the man from the hospital… The Suit Guy! Oh man, he was so next, and he knew it. His eyes widened when he saw her hop out of the truck, jumping down and grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him towards her.

"You!"

"No, wrong person."

His voice was still even, and her eyes met his for a brief moment. He was right: the colour of his eyes wasn't right, his face more feminine and less chiselled than the Suit Guy. His hair was also shorter, and stuck up at the back, looking somewhat reminiscent of a duck's backside. How he could wear his hair like that was beyond her, and though he was handsome in his own right, he was so not her type. He had this odd, cocky attitude to him, and she did not like that at all. And was that… eyeliner? Her eyes could be deceiving her, but you never knew…

"How do you know who I'm talking about?"

"Because the man you are looking for is my brother." Well, wasn't that peachy.

"And what is your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." That sounded familiar. She knew she had heard the name 'Uchiha' somewhere…

"And who is your brother?"

"Itachi."

"Well, you'd better tell me everything you know about him, or you're going to end up like your friend over there." Sakura gestured over her shoulder to the curled-up blonde. The slight fear in Sasuke's eyes was visible behind the cold demeanour, and a smirk crossed her features. He was going to tell her.

Damn, this was going to be a long night.

And, if all else failed, she could just take the gun on Sasuke's holster and give them a good dose of lead aspirin.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED AT**

_10.02.09_

* * *


	3. II: Shotgun Mouthwash

HAHAHA I WIN. I didn't think I'd get this out in time, but I did! I am so happeh.

Soundtrack for this chapter... _Don't Fear the Reaper_ by Blue Oyster Cult. :3 Only because I lurve that song... Enjoy!

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**C R I S I S - - P A R T O N E  
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**II: S H O T G U N M O U T H W A S H  
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_Well, from the first meeting between the three of us, I'm pretty sure that anyone and their mother could tell how this would end up. I broke some guy's jaw, and threatened the other into telling me where his brother was… The man in the goddamn suit. I don't understand why the two of them were being so secretive, but I sure as hell was going to find out. I mean, there's no wrong in 'thanking' your __saviour__, now is there? I would be nice enough when I finally met him ('nice' meaning that I was not going to tie him down and interrogate him, just nicely ask him what he thought he was doing). I would be sure to thank him as well, as long as his idea of thanking was not the same as Naruto's… _

_Speaking of Naruto, I did end up fixing his jaw. Not that he deserved it, and he did whine the whole time, but it did end up right back in place, and we just continued on from there. I remember that Sasuke proceeded to poke the sore jaw numerous times, ending in scuffles that I had to end. We continued on this way for a couple of weeks, before meeting up with a few other people—Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji (who are cousins, apparently, and both have the odd purpley-silver eyes), Inuzuka Kiba (who kinda looked like a dog and had some odd kinda tribal paint on his cheeks) and his dog, Akamaru (who was FUCKING GIGANTIC. I COULD RIDE ON THE DAMN THING.). _

_That group lasted for a while, and we ended up finding a couple more guys: Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and some guy that only called himself "Lee" and wore these really, really tight—and awfully bright—jumpsuits that were green, paired with orange legwarmers. I mean seriously, I thought Naruto's outfit was bad, but at least only part of it was orange… Not to mention that Lee was like Naruto on acid when it came to flirting. Oh gods, I was ready to tear his goddamn head off by the time I finally left. Ino turned up, too, with a girl named Tenten. I was overjoyed to see Ino, and the other girl wasn't so bad either, but we never really got a chance to talk._

_We ended up organizing teams: Naruto, Sasuke and I were Team Seven (I took Kakashi's spot. He had gotten kicked out for being late for everything), Hinata, Kiba and Shino were Team Eight; Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were Team Ten (don't' ask why there is no Team Nine. It was a messy ordeal) and finally, Tenten, Neji and Lee were Team Gai, apparently named after Lee's late sensei. According to Neji, Lee had nearly lost it, and now was obsessed with avenging his sensei. Not to be terrible, but I laughed a bit. Anyway, we operated in these teams. _

_Naruto ended up leaving me alone, though he did ignore the one person there who really was fond of him—Hinata, and she looked like she was going to pass out every time he stood next to her. Poor girl._

_It wasn't really my problem, though. We stayed in the group, hidden within the building I had arrived in weeks prior. There were weapons, which was awesome (I personally took along a simple semi-automatic rifle and a riot shotgun—the ones that police use.), and no zombies, which was even better. We took shifts watching the place, and as it turns out I was one of the only medics there so I never had to go on patrol. I didn't ever have to treat anything except for regular wounds, though those were mostly from the boys' fighting._

_Nothing really interesting happened during that time, except for when I finally got Sasuke to tell me about his brother. None of it was useful, though! Physical description, and a detailed story about how Itachi had tortured him as a child. If there was an award for melodrama, Sasuke had it in the bag. Damn, he was annoying… Many nights I spent wanting to tear him a new one, but I endured until I knew that I could take things on my own. I finally loaded up one night, and told them I was heading out._

_And I'm not even kidding, but it was one of the most entertaining nights I had been a part of in a long time. I gained a new comrade that day, though sadly he was lost. I can still remember it as clear as day… _

**- - -**

**August 4****th****, 7:56 PM**

**Tokyo Police Headquarters, Downtown Tokyo**

**Courtyard**

**- - -**

"Yes… Fresh air."

Sakura was all too happy to finally get out of the police station, taking it upon herself to ditch the groups and work alone to find the Suit Guy, whose name was apparently "Itachi". Weasel… Hrm. Well, he was awfully good at getting himself out of tight situations. She hadn't seen him since the incident at the hospital, and Sasuke refused to tell her anything, saying that he had revenge to take on Itachi for what he had done (which he also would not tell to her), and that if she wanted to kick his ass so bad she'd have to go out and look for him.

That statement was followed by a swift kick in groin, much to the amusement of Naruto.

Even though she knew better than to beat up her teammates, it wasn't like she'd be saying much longer anyway. They had taught her how to use weapons, how to aim and deal with recoil, and then found her car, loaded it with food and supplies, and wished her luck. She would need it: it was definitely war now.

People had been hiding out for a while, but most times those who were infected passed themselves up as fine, and then ended up reanimating and biting everyone else in the camps and just making more of a mess. The government had gone underground, apparently planning a way to end everything.

Yeah, end everything. The thought elicited a loud snort from the woman, considering that even though there were survivors they planned on bombing the whole goddamn city to rid it of the ghouls, and then starting anew. What was the point of that if there would be no one to start everything up again?

Would they just take the healthy women and impregnate them over and over? Sakura shuddered at the thought of some slimy old politician going down on her… Ew. That would haunt her nightmares until she died, which probably wouldn't be long off considering the circumstances. Oh well. Nothing to lose if you have nothing, right?

Not that she was welcoming death. Quite the opposite, actually… She needed to find Itachi, no matter what. Something told her that he would know what to do, and even though she didn't know him it was perfectly easy to think that if he survived he would want to form a partnership so that both of them could survive. Right now she really wished she had company, because the streets looked rather desolate.

Silence was never good, so Sakura slid into her SUV and revved the engine, pulling out of the courtyard at blinding speeds. She could have sworn she ran over a crawler or two, because the vehicle rose of the ground with a grotesque crack, causing her to wince. As long as the bones didn't pierce her tires she was pretty sure that she'd be okay.

For now, at least. If there was a radio that would have been nice, because then Sakura probably would not have heard the _smash_ of a building falling. Her first instinct was that there were people there, and whipped around the car to get to the source of the cloud of dust. There had to be a good reason why it fell… Supplies, government officials, maybe the man in the suit…?

She had no way of knowing how dead wrong she would be.

**- - - **

**August 4****th****, 8:22 PM**

**Collapsed Building, Downtown Tokyo**

**Walkway**

**- - - **

"Oh shit."

Yeah, okay, this had been a dumb idea. A really dumb one.

But she didn't know it had been a bad idea! There was no way in the bloodiest bowels of hell that she could have expected _this_.

'This' just so happened to be twelve feet tall, a good five hundred pounds, and a writhing mass of black tentacles with orange-red, glowing innards.

Fuck, it was one scary thing. Sakura's eyes were wide; her lips parted as it felt like all air left her lungs. The thing didn't even move… It just… Sent one of those giant, nasty black tentacles in her direction.

And you know what the worst thing was? She couldn't even move.

_Fuck, I am going to die._

"TAKE THIS, YOU BITCH!"

Out of nowhere there was the sound of a shotgun firing, hitting the insanely fast moving tentacle with great force and accuracy. Then came another, and another, and another… What the hell. Was the person's weapon rapid-fire or something? Sakura had never heard of a more fantastic idea than a rapid-fire shotgun.

A shadow passed overhead as the character jumped down, landing a few feet in front of her… She didn't realize that she had backed herself into a corner. That would have been very, very bad, but strangely enough, she still couldn't move. The woman gasped at sputtered, not quite understanding what was happening until the man turned around, fixing his rather angry-looking brown eyes on hers.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Quit being a pussy, grab your rifle and let's kill this bitch!"

"WELL EXCUSE ME, PRINCESS, BUT—"

He rolled his eyes. Women were so difficult. "You've got a fucking gun, now use it!"

"I CAN'T SNIPE FROM THIS RANGE, AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I SHOULD BE HITTING."

This man was infuriating! She should just turn around now and let him die, but she didn't know if the… thing (that she was officially deeming "Tentacle Rape Monster") would just grab her if she turned her back on it. Damn it, this sucked.

"Then I'll toss you on the roof! Quit being such a whiny bitch!"

And with that, he fired a few more rounds into the writhing mass of doom, this time causing it to recoil by hitting the gross-looking red stuff inside of it. Sakura didn't quite see what he did with the massive shotgun that he had brought with him, but instead saw that he crouched and held his hands out for a boost jump. As much as she didn't want anything to do with the guy, they needed to send this thing right back to hell.

She backed up a bit before running towards him, the bottom of her boot hitting his hand while she leapt up, the extra force allowing her to fly onto the balcony above. The clatter of machine parts and whines that sounded rather inhumane told her that he had started firing on the thing again, and she knew that she had to get to higher ground… Aha! There were stairs! Fuck yeaaaah, man…

Her boots made heavy sounds against the crumbling wood as she pursued the light at the top; her breaths coming in short bursts that made her lungs feel as if they were empty. She reached for the corner, flying around and out onto the top floor balcony to observe the scene below. The man seemed to be holding his own quite well, but he had wanted her help and now needed to know exactly what the hell she was supposed to do…

"HEY YOU!" The man's head turned as a tentacle barely missed his face, but she didn't really care.

"KINDA BUSY. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" She could literally see the spit fly from his mouth. Ew.

"WHAT AM I AIMING AT?"

"THE HEART, YOU DUMBASS, THE HEART!"

"WATCH IT, OR I'LL AIM FOR YOUR HEAD!"

She ignored his angry retort as she pulled the rifle from her back, grabbing the scope from her leg holster and attached to the top as an angry string of very impressive curses spewed from between her slightly moistened lips. Sweat beaded her forehead as she took aim, firing into the writing mass at the same time his shots hit.

The beast recoiled and Sakura couldn't help but feel a slight elation at the fact that it seemed to shrink… Until it grabbed an incoming zombie, absorbing it…

And then the fucker just got bigger.

"DOESN'T THIS THING EVER DIE?" Exasperated, Sakura looked around for something, anything that could help… And then she saw a case. Not just any case, but a case of grenades. There was one left.

Oh yes, this thing was going down.

The rosette scrambled towards the box, stowing her rifle back into place with one fluid movement. She could hear the man's angry yells at her cease in fire, but in a second he would not be complaining. This was probably the stupidest thing that Sakura would ever do in her lifetime, but if it saved at least one person from this writing mass of goo and tentacles she would be happy.

A satisfied smirk crossed her face as she took a running leap from the edge of the building, flying through the air. The pin was gripped between her teeth, and she pulled it just before landing against the reddish flesh that was her target. It was literally sucking her in, and felt like it would never let go… It was hard to get a proper grip, but with only a few precious seconds before the grenade exploded she somehow managed to plant it within the fleshy tissue.

Luckily enough the thing let out some odd sort of strangled cry before using one of the writhing appendages to whack her off by the waist. She gasped as all the air left her lungs at the impact, but her face retained the satisfied look as she flew and ended up knocking the man who had yelled at her back as well.

It all happened in a second, but the result was so worth it. Not that Sakura actually got to see it, however… She was too busy covering her eyes.

Though the deafening _boom_ was enough to let her know that her plan was a success, especially since she could feel the splatter.

Good thing her mouth had been closed. Her face got the brunt of it.

"Eww…" Sakura waited until the soft squelch of flesh falling from the sky ceased before sitting up, wiping her eyes as she opened them. All that was left of the thing was a few twitching tentacles, and a nice splat mark on the ground.

In all honesty, she could not believe that worked, and apparently neither could the man.

"Holy shit." He sat up and rubbed his head, and Sakura finally got to take a good look at him.

He looked American of all things, with his light skin and brown hair. He was wearing simple jeans and a black hoodie, a back pack strapped to his back and looking as scrawny as someone who had no eaten in years… Though she was a little distracted by all the guts on his clothing. She probably looked worse, but at least she was kinda pretty…

"Who're you?" Sakura asked, raising a light eyebrow. It was odd not to know the name of someone you had just fought with…

"Locke. Who're you?"

"Sakura. Nice to meet you." He merely nodded, flopping back against the dirt and rubble. It was then that she heard the moan, and was almost ready to kill herself. Of course there had to be zombies on top of all of this…

Both of them were just drawing their weapons when they heard an awfully loud whirring sound, like that of a helicopter—wait, a helicopter?

"What the hell…" she breathed, looking up into the sky just as the vehicle hovered above their heads, turret whirring and firing multiple rounds into the ghouls that were closing in on them. Zip lines were dropped and someone slid down it, followed by another person, and another…

Soon cars were zooming into the area, and people in Hazmat suits were coming out, advancing on the pair. She was too tired to move as they closed in, grabbing their arms and standing them upright.

Apparently Locke was not as exhausted as she, because should could hear him cursing and struggling as they dragged him off into a car, all the while talking in some kind of code that she could not quite make out. But why hadn't they pulled her away…?

"Keep her still."

She knew that voice. Her eyes followed the sound as she struggled against the men holding her, but the second she pinpointed her target she began to thrash about with new liveliness.

It was him. Uchiha Itachi… The man in the suit.

He was talking into that strange handheld device, but his rather attractive eyes were fixated on her narrowed ones. The Uchiha turned away from her, but she was going to have none of that, oh no…

With a great yell and final tug of her arms she broke free, pulling the shotgun from its holster on her back as she sprinted towards his taller form. Her slender arm wrapped around his neck, tugging him back and down against her as she shoved the end of the shotgun underneath his jaw. He grunted, wrapping her fingers around her arm as she pulled him around, but he quickly stopped as she rested her finger on the trigger.

Her lips were against his ear, her voice barely above a whisper. "We finally get a chance to talk, hm?"

"You could have… asked." He grit his teeth, the words coming out as a low growl. She laughed, shaking her head. Who said something like that to the person holding a gun to their head?

"Oh, I'll ask…" She purred. This problem had been driving her insane, and the amount of slightly sadistic satisfaction she was getting out of this was immense.

"I'll ask if we can talk somewhere more private, or this'll become rather messy when I give you a good dose of shotgun mouthwash."

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED AT**

_10.09.09_

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The shotgun that Locke is using is a AA-12, with HEAP rounds and 00 Buck. 3 It is epic. Youtube it!


	4. III: Fanservice

**Okay, wow. I can't believe this is done. D: Between illness and classes and posting it was hard to find time, but I did it! Woot... I dun have a song this time. xD Use your imagination, and the title should be a little more intruiging than the last one, hurhur... I couldn't help myself. Enjoy~ **

**OH YEAH. NARUTO IS NOT MINE AND NEITHER IS SACHIKO. :3 JUST SO WE KNOW.  
**

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**C R I S I S - - P A R T O N E **

**III: F A N S E R V I C E (also known as "I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS SHIT.")**

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_I would love to tell you that everything went fine from there, and that Itachi swallowed his pride and told me what was going on and then I was able to blow his head off with my beloved shotgun and then I would be able to pass it off as an unfortunate accident when someone asked. But no, instead he said something that kinda confused me and then proceeded to press a button on his ComPilot thing and then a couple'a Hazmat guys came from behind and dragged me off in the same direction as Locke was being pulled in, which in my opinion was completely unfair. I had no idea that there were even people other than the group alive here in Tokyo, so of course I was more than pissed when it turns out that there were more than fifty-something people alive and well and working for Itachi here while the rest of us were fighting for our lives._

_This is all what I assumed, of course. I had no way of knowing their true purpose, or who they were, or what was really going on... It was all a stroke of luck that I had run into Itachi that day. Yeah, luck—tentacle rape monsters, strange American men, glittering silver suits and loud noises... Something about Locke being infected. He didn't look infected to me, nor did he have any marks that would say otherwise—but then again, how many people had come into the hospitals looking just fine? More than I could count, really, so there was no way that I could just assume that he was perfectly well. I had to believe those odd men in Hazmat suits, though you can bet that I screamed and fought to try and get away when they tied my arms behind my back. _

_I don't really remember what happened next. I remember Itachi talking into his device to someone, a voice that I knew, about me... I can't recall what they were saying; their voices are fuzzy and blurred inside my mind. What I do recall, though, was a sharp, puncturing pain in my upper arm and liquid pressure as some sort of drug was injected into my system. I couldn't fight it as it worked its way through me, I could only hold onto the single thought that I had to find out what was going on here as my consciousness escaped me. And that Locke guy... As much as I wanted to string him up over a huge group of zombies and just ring the dinner bell, he had saved my life, and I would have to return the favour somehow. _

_Somehow... Yes, I would formulate a plan one way or another. I was a natural strategist, but that didn't mean that I would know where he was, or if he was even near me. I immediately regretted leaving the group, because they would have no idea where I was or if I was okay, and if I couldn't help myself, then how was I expected to help someone else? I had no goddamn idea where to even begin, and my mind flitted through possible scenarios even when I was out like that. _

_Apparently I was out for about six hours. Enough time for them to take me underground, strip me of all my weapons and leave me with only a pathetic 9mm handgun (which I had no idea how to use, considering that I had never even held a pistol) and a thin blanket on a stone floor. Luckily enough I had a partner._

_She was the one that woke me up and helped me out—though it was only a side effect of helping herself. That woman became a valuable comrade, though, and I would love to spoil how our relationship went, but I could just show you._

_Of course, I was pissed when I finally woke, and it didn't take much to guess as to who was pissing me off._

_He should have been scared. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned._

**- - - **

**August 5th, 9:57 AM**

**Unknown Location, Outside Tokyo**

**Underground Cell**

**- - -**

It was cold.

Not even like, 'oh, it's winter so it's bound to be cold' kinda cold, but 'what the fuck, did someone shove me in a freezer?' kinda cold. And on top of that, it was August. It was not supposed to be chill-you-to-the-bones cold in August.

There was no good reason for it, but the roseate-haired woman lying on the ground, curled under a thin blanket had no way of knowing why it was so frigid, considering that she had been out like a light for a good few hours. She should probably have been waking up soon, but something inside her head was forcing her into some odd kind of hibernation due to the fact that it was so fucking chilly. She should probably have chosen thicker clothing considering that she knew that she was at war with the living dead, but there was no good way of knowing that heading to a collapsed building and blowing up a writhing mass of tentacles would get her captured and thrown into a cell.

And of course she still had no idea that she was curled up under a blanket in said cell, and that she wasn't alone.

Well, she was for the time being, but normally there was someone else there... Speak of the devil.

"Get your hands off of me!"

Sakura cringed at the feminine yell, sliding back into consciousness. Her head was already starting to hurt... She groaned as she sat up, rubbing her verdant and slightly sleep-swollen eyes.

"Whuzgoinon?" she yawned, rather groggy from the drugs pumping throughout her system as they faded. The other woman fixed her with a rather odd stare, apparently not expecting company.

"Who the hell're you?" Sakura finally opened her eyes fully, taking in her surroundings. Stone walls, iron bars, smelly cot... Oh, fuck her life. Over and over again.

"Haruno Sakura. To whom do I owe this pleasure?" Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, and the other woman only shook her head.

"Haretsu Sachiko. Did Itachi get you, too?" Huh. Someone else here knew the bastard. Sakura nodded in response as she looked the woman over—she was rather pretty, probably more so than herself. Red hair, green eyes, slim and wearing sweatpants and a tank top.

"Yeah, he did. I almost got absorbed by some giant tentacle rape monster thing, if you know what the hell that is--"

"You mean the giant writhing mass of goo? The one that eats zombies and is impossible to kill?" Sachiko's lips curled into a smirk, and Sakura allowed herself a small laugh.

"That's the one. I stuck a grenade in the fucker and then Itachi showed up." The redhead's eyes lit up at the mention of explosives.

"Nice one. Did it work?"

"Yeah, it did. I was surprised, actually... But then our weasel came and dragged me off." Sakura finished in a mutter, and Sachiko only nodded.

"Sounds the same as what happened to me. I was with a group, and we had teams—I was on Team Nine--" The rosette's lips parted in quiet surprise.

"Wait, _you_ were one of the ones on Team Nine? Naruto said--"

"Naruto's okay?" Sachiko looked rather surprised, and Sakura nodded slowly. The other woman sighed in relief as she sank down onto the cot across from her, a rather happy smile crossing her features.

"Why do you... What does he have to do with anything?" The medic was a bit confused, but Sachiko merely grunted and straightened up.

"Nothing. I'm just happy he's okay."

"Yeah right... Tell me what happened to Team Nine."

"How about you tell me how you know Naruto?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"He saved my ass and then tried to kiss me..." Sachiko frowned, but Sakura continued anyway. "And then he and Sasuke took me back to the station and assigned me a team. I was on Team Seven."

"Oh. Well, I was there before... I was on Team Nine. We were sent to go and explore a couple of buildings where other groups of survivors had been to see if we could find anything, and instead were greeted by... Well, the thing that nearly got you," her tone was rather dull, but Sakura was hanging onto every word as she continued. "We hadn't been expecting that—it grabbed my teammates before I could react and tore them to bits."

"Ew."

"'Ew' indeed. It was pulling me in when the helicopter showed up... Apparently the thing had been an escaped experiment. That's how I ended up here—our boy Itachi locked me up for seeing it." The redhead shrugged. "I've only been here a couple weeks. I finally gathered enough things to escape."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Sachiko's eyes glimmered, and Sakura immediately regretted asking the question.

"Explosives. What else?"

**- - -**

By the time the redhead finished explaining the plan to Sakura, the medic was completely sure that the woman was nuts. Yeah, when the guards came around every now and then to check on them Sachiko looked indifferent, but Sakura knew better. The woman had apparently been stockpiling supplies when she was taken out for exams and things, and under her bed was a rather large stash of gasoline, Comet and Drain-o. Now, Sakura didn't know exactly what she planned to be doing with these things, but it could not be good.

That was why Sakura watched with a worried expression as the other woman loaded a film canister (how she had gotten one was beyond the medic's comprehension) partially with Comet, filling the remaining half with the liquid Drain-o and recapping the little canister. Sakura may not have been an expert, but she knew that it could not be a good thing.

"Um... What exactly are you doing?"

"Building a bomb." Her tone made Sakura frown, the sound of it making her think that Sachiko thought it was the most obvious thing in the world. It really wasn't in Sakura's opinion, considering that she had always found that explosives were best when they were ready-made and there was some way of lighting them, but Sachi seemed rather proud of herself as she held the tiny canister up for inspection.

"Are you sure it'll work?" Sakura watched as the woman poked her head through the bars to look for guards before beginning to move the beds into what looked like an impromptu shelter.

"Duh. Don'tcha trust me?" The woman was wearing a rather... Erm, well 'crazy' was a good way to put it, but not so nice... Well, it was a crazy expression. Who else did Sakura have to trust? That was the logic behind the medic's nod. "Then quit your whining and get behind here."

Sakura did as she was told while the other woman placed the gas container right near the hinge of the door before dropping in the pellet that was full of cleaning supplies and booking it to where Sakura was. She watched out of morbid curiosity as a fizzling sound began to come from that location, but she didn't quite see what happened due to the fact that Sachiko shoved her head down within seconds.

Good timing, too, because there was a deafening _BOOM _and the smell of burning as a piece of metal hurtled into the spot where her head once was. Sakura let out a squeak, but Sachi only laughed and let out a loud whoop as she hopped over the beds. Sakura didn't move.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I...erm, well, I guess..."

"You sound like Hinata. Put on your big girl panties and let's go!" That got Sakura up. She did _not_ sound like Hinata.

The two took off down the hallway, but apparently the explosion had been heard throughout the base—nothing out of the ordinary there—and that had prompted guards to come down the corridor, yelling something about escaped prisoners and how they couldn't let them get past here because everything past there was classified space and the boss would not be happy and blah blah blah. Like the duo really cared.

The first two were merely kicked over by the redhead, one of them managing to grab a hold of Sakura. She grabbed the man's arm and flung him forwards into yet another guard, this one carrying some type of machine gun. A few stray rounds found their way into the ceiling as Sakura grabbed the gun, hopping over the now-dazed man. Sachiko was in a rather heated-looking fight with the last couple of guards; the pink-haired woman could see from her location that her lip was split.

Okay, that was uncool. She did not hesitate to take aim and fire her hastily-procured gun into the man's back, causing him to let out a strangled yell as he fell to the floor. A rush of adrenaline bled through her veins as crimson fluid leaked from his corpse—it had just then dawned on her that she had killed someone, and that every time she killed a zombie it was murder, too. Undead or not, they were still human at one point, and it was murder pure and simple.

Well then. That would certainly help her sleep at night.

Though she didn't really care right now, as her life was on the line, and so was Sachi's. Even though she didn't really know the woman, she was the one that had broken her out and now made it possible for her to continue on in her mission to find the damnable man...

So she owed her one.

The roseate groaned before getting right back into battle, kicking the man at her back right where it hurt before sliding the handgun from it's holster, pressing it to his temple and pulling the trigger. Blood spattered onto her pale skin, but she didn't think of it as she turned, aimed the gun over the redhead's shoulder and yelled at her to duck before the bullet hit the bewildered guard right between the eyes.

He fell with a grunt, and Sakura wiped her brow with a shaky sigh as she kicked him over. Sachiko was wearing a look of relief, apparently not noticing that Sakura was having a bit of a mental breakdown at the fact that _she had killed a man._ An actual human being was lying there in front of her, dead. It was finally sinking in, and it almost made her want to cry.

"Oh..." Sachiko finally took notice of the other woman's expression, and knew exactly what it meant, but she would have to get over it quickly. "Sakura, he's a bad man."

"Then I'm a bad person... I shouldn't have--"

"Sakura, you saved my life." Sachiko took the medic's shoulders in her hands, staring her in the eye as she shook her. "You've killed before, and if you didn't do away with him he would have killed you. Is your life less important than his?"

"No life is unimportant." Sakura's voice was a whisper, her verdant eyes filling with tears. "I'm a doctor... I can't put one life above another."

"Even if it's your own? Don't you have something to accomplish?"

"Well yes, but I--"

"No buts, Sakura." The woman's firm tone finally got through to her, but she continued to protest until Sachiko cut her off. "This man knew what he was getting into when he took that job. If he would have killed you, what would have become of me? Of everything that I know you're going to work towards? My dreams and goals?" Sakura fell silent, her eyes hitting the floor.

"I... I don't know."

"Exactly. Now get yourself together, hm? We don't want more of them coming down here and making us waste more ammo than necessary." Her words made Sakura's lips tug into a slight smile, and she nodded in agreement. "Good. Now let's find our way out—our weasel would be on an upper floor."

"You sure?"

"Pfft, who needs to be sure in this society? If you've got the guts, you always get your way."

**- - -**

**August 5th, 10:27 AM**

**Unknown Location, Outside Tokyo**

**15th Floor Hallway**

**- - -**

"Sa-chi-koooooooo, wait uuuuup!" Sakura called, her breath coming heavily as she followed the redhead up the stairs, considering that said woman was now out of her sights.

"Sakura, you're a slowpoke. How did you survive this long?" Tinkling laughter echoed in the space. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"That's not funny."

"Says you. I think I'm pretty damn funny." The redhead leaned against the railing, waiting for the medic to catch up. Once she was there, said medic fixed the explosives expert with a rather heated glare.

"Not. Funny." Sachiko just continued to giggle, poking Sakura in the stomach, causing her to let out a squeak. "Damn it! Didn't I say not to do that?"

"Didn't I say I wasn't gonna listen?" Sakura groaned. She had said that...

"Oh shut up."

The two exited the stairwell and onto the fifteenth floor—even though it certainly didn't look like they were above ground—and pressed against the wall, trying to be as quiet as possible as they began to sneak through the hallway. According to the map that Sakura had found on a lower floor Itachi's office was up here, and that was where both of them wanted to be.

"Just around this corner..." Sakura breathed, and the other woman nodded as she made her way around said corner. The dim lighting shone off of a door handle, and the two knew they had found it.

Sachiko stood against the right side, and jerked her head slightly to indicate for Sakura to come over. Footsteps sounded from inside... Jackpot.

"I'll stay out here... You go in." Sachiko whispered, procuring the machine gun that Sakura had nicked off of a guard earlier. It would be good enough; she could make noise if someone came along... or something. Either way.

"Thanks, Sachiko... If I don't see you against after this, I owe you one." The redhead gave a slight laugh.

"Same to you. Good luck." With that Sakura placed her hand on the knob, turning it quickly and slipping inside.

Though the sight she was greeted with nearly had her eyes popping out of her skull.

Her jaw dropped silently, verdant eyes fixed upon the bare back she was presented with. Slightly muscled but still lean, the skin pulled taut over his sinewy build. She didn't look away for the whole three seconds that he was turned until he headed through another door—how he had not noticed her yet was beyond comprehension—and she could hear the rustle of clothing.

Okay, honestly, who had their wardrobe in their office... Well, Itachi apparently did. Sakura was still getting over how... erm, attractive he was when he returned, but this time he was facing forwards.

Damn it, didn't this man know that wearing clothes prevented this kind of thing from happening? His shirt was unbuttoned and hanging loose, the crimson fabric parted just enough that she could catch a glimpse of the pale skin and toned muscle that made up his abdomen. Sakura unconsciously bit her lip as her gaze travelled lower, following the line of his hipbones that dipped so invitingly into the waistband of his pants...

If she had known he looked like _that_ underneath his clothes, she would have been much nicer when she confronted him. And then she would just stay here and gape for a moment longer... But he had to ruin it by opening his mouth to speak (not that his voice was unpleasant... It was just intrusive.).

"You escaped." Way to state the obvious, but Sakura didn't really register what he said. She nodded, slightly dazed, her eyes unfocused as they finally found their way to his face.

"Yeah, Sachi and I... What're you...?" She was slightly confused as he made his way towards her, his eyes set on hers with such intent that it made her cheeks flush slightly. Why was he getting so close...? Her arm fell, the handgun that had been aimed at him now facing the ground and held with a lax grip.

"Mm... Two escapees..." Man, he really did have a nice voice... Sakura could only nod as she tilted her head up, his proximity making her realize just how much height was between them. Only a foot or so... It was a good distance. "What are your plans, exactly?"

Sakura's mind went completely blank as she backed into the door, one of his arms above her head as he looked down at her. Her lips went dry at the closeness, parting slightly as her tongue ran along them to moisten the skin. Why was it so hot and hard to breathe all of a sudden? He only smirked at her sudden silence, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

"I, uh.. I think I was supposed to scare you into talking..." She finally found her voice, though it was nothing over a hushed whisper as he leaned closer to hear her. Itachi's hand brushed hers, his nose sliding gently against hers as he spoke.

"With this?" She nodded, eliciting a soft chuckle from him. Well, at least she remembered the plan, but it was getting harder to carry it out... Her fingers tightened on the weapon, but she couldn't find the willpower to raise it as his lips barely grazed hers.

Why wasn't she protesting? Something in her mind was screaming for her to stop this, and to shove him away and jam that goddamn weapon against his temple, but something else—a more dominant part—was shutting it up. She briefly wondered what his motives were, considering all the things he had said last time they met, but she just couldn't bring herself to think that he was going to harm her. She doubted it, actually... Though that was partially due to how close he was.

"I would like to see you try..." That was the last thing she heard before his hand curled around hers, pulling her against him as he closed the distance between their lips. A slightly surprised sound escaped her, but she did not protest, nor did she pull away. Instead she returned his kiss, completely oblivious to the fact that his hands were working easily to disarm her.

Something triggered her instincts and she tried to regain her grip on the cool metal, but he slid a hand into her hair to bring her closer and it just felt so damn good that she felt weak (that was her excuse if anyone asked. Damn this infernal man and whatnot) and it managed to slip from her fingers. It fell with a dull thud against the floor, and he kicked it away easily as his hand caught her wrists and raised them up above her head.

It was then that she realized that it was all an act, but why wasn't he stopping...? Not that she was complaining (even though she should have been) when his tongue swept past her parted lips, his fingers leaving her hair to roam her body.

Little did she know that he was completely disarming her, unclasping the belt that held the knives, removing the cases of ammo from their holster, sliding the knives out of her boots with his feet. By the time she pulled away, breathless, he had removed anything dangerous from her person.

"...Especially since you have nothing to frighten me with." Aw, shit. Sakura groaned quietly, closing her eyes once more as it fell back against the door.

"You tricked me, you bastard," she hissed, not wanting Sachiko to hear if this door was as thin as it looked. "And I swear I'm going to get you back for this."

He shook his head slightly as he walked her over to the chair in front of his desk, using his belt to tie her hands together. The male was seemingly unaffected by that entire situation, his face as blank as always while hers was painted a magnificent red that clashed horribly with her hair.

"I am sure you will," he said airily. Sakura grumbled something as the male headed into his closet thing once again, returning after a few moments, fully dressed. She fixed him with a glare, struggling slightly against her bindings. This was unfair...

"How did you escape?" Time he sounded genuinely curious, and Sakura only sighed.

"Explosives." Itachi blinked. Explosives?

"How did you--"

"Sachiko knows what she's doing. Comet, Drain-o, gasoline and a film canister." Well then. That was the last time he put any of the prisoners on cleaning duty. "Now can you answer one of my questions?"

"I would love to, but--" The phone rang. Oh, how convenient. The Uchiha flashed the rather pissed-off medic a smirk before picking up the phone. "Talk."

Sakura watched angrily as his face fell from his haughty smirk to a look of bewilderment before a look of annoyance. It pleased her somewhat to know that things weren't going exactly how he wanted, either, and she leaned back against the chair as the conversation unfolded.

"Yes, I have her...I couldn't possibly... Her father said that—What do you mean, 'take her with you'? You know as well as I do that she wouldn't survive down there." Why did everyone have to talk about her in front of her face? And what the hell did he mean by that last bit? Sakura's displeasure showed as a scowl crossed her features, but Itachi took no notice.

"Fine. I will meet you down there... Be sure to clear the place out." With that he hung up, rested his elbows upon the desk, crossed his fingers and fixed her with another intense stare.

"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?" Sakura looked right into those pretty eyes, her fury lighting up her gaze.

"We have... a job to do." Itachi winced at the woman's response—a rather angry 'WHAT!'. Why did she have to be so difficult? He explained the situation as calmly as he could,

"OH HELL NO. I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS SHIT." He sighed, rubbing his temples as his head pounded from the incoming headache.

"Neither did I, but we're going to have to do it."

"Says who, you?"

"Not me... Something higher. Do you want to fix this?"

"You mean this whole zombie thing?"

"Yes."

"Well yeah, but—" Sakura was a bit bewildered as he untied her.

"Then quit your complaining, grab your things and let's go."

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED AT**

_10.16.09_

_

* * *

  
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	5. IV: Dude, Where's My Car?

**A/N: **

**-bows- I am so sorry that this took so long! ****–****dodges bricks- School, RP, illness, home issues and LOCKE****'****S I****'****M A RETARD mode was stopping me from finishing this. OTL **

**But it****'****s done! This chapter is called ****"****Dude, Where****'****s My Car?****"**** for a damn good reason. **

**Many thanks to Megan, Tristian, Alex and Jukai for allowing me to use their characters (or themselves, in the first three****'****s case). I don****'****t know if I played them accurately, but whatever. I manipulate you to suit my needs!**

**Also thanks to the lovely Miss Fahrenheit, who I love, and thanks to BrittMarie for beta-ing this because she is awesome!**

**

* * *

  
**

_Well, after that meeting I could safely say that Uchiha Itachi was not the type of man I would normally associate with, no matter how good-looking he happened to be. Sachiko had heard my yell and started pounding on the door, begging to be let in, but our weasel had other plans. Instead of allowing me to open the door and tell the redhead what was going on, he instead pulled me into his closet without so much as a sound. I managed to grab my weapons on the way in, but it__'__s not like it would matter. _

_He pushed aside various suits and shirts before reaching what seemed to be a wall. There was something sticking out of it, and being curious I was going to place my hand on it, but that was before he promptly smacked my fingers away and told me not to touch anything. Instead he put his hand on it and with a nice __'__whoosh__'__ the back wall slid open to reveal a grate. He lifted it, pulled me in and pressed a button. _

_I didn__'__t even have time to protest then, but you can believe that I ranted as the elevator rose. I thought it would have lowered, personally, and then I remembered that we were underground. He didn__'__t bat an eyelash at any of my rather rude comments__—__which pissed me off to no end, because he _should_ have cared__—__but instead he chose to tap the screen of his ComPilot thing and talk quietly to that rather young-sounding female. _

_The scowl that crossed my face was massive, but not because I was jealous. I had learned from Granny Chiyo the saying __"__When a woman is speaking, a man would do well to listen quietly__"__. I really did live by it, and it was bad enough having to work with that Locke fellow (though he was a cool dude, he really was a jerk sometimes) and now Itachi? My life was so __perfect__._

_It didn__'__t take long before the elevator slid open and we walked through a long, dark passage. I was bored to say the least, but when light finally started to appear some form of hope lit up within me. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could get away…_

_But, of course, it led into a garage. A sealed garage. Fun times, I can assure you._

_Itachi proceeded to load me up with all sorts of weaponry, mostly ammo, but I also go a hold of a few incendiary grenades and a higher-grade rifle. As much as I loved my other rifle, this one was semi-automatic and had a higher capacity, so I could easily leave the first behind. _

_And of course I couldn__'__t forget the double machetes and crowbar. Melee weapons never run out of ammo, after all._

_He grabbed a .45 handgun and a knife. I quite literally gaped at the fact that I thought he was unprepared and that he was going to die, but before I could say anything he handed me a medical pack and told me to get in the car. It was a nice car: black SUV with tinted windows. It __didn__'__t take a genius to tell that the vehicle was bulletproof._

_The engine revved and we were soon on our way. The damnable man was so quiet during that time that I thought my head would explode… I couldn__'__t resist toying with him. _

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 4:20 PM**

**Unknown Location, Deserted Village**

**Forest Road**

**- - -**

"Are we there yet?"

The Uchiha sighed for what seemed like the fiftieth time. "No."

"How about now?"

It was just far too great to watch the annoyed look on his face as she asked the worst possible question in this situation. Not only was she alone with him, but he wasn't allowed to kill her—or so he had said—or harm her, so she pretty much had free reign over her so-called 'partner'. She was driving the poor man off the deep end, and it's not like there was any escape from the dense foliage that surrounded them.

"No, Sakura," Itachi took a hand off the wheel to pinch his brow at the sound of her giggle. This woman was so… _infuriating._ Why did she have to be like this, he wondered?

"How much longer?"

"I don't know."

Sakura pouted. Why didn't he know? He should know where they were going, considering that in the middle of the zombie apocalypse she was trusting him of all people with her life. Just before she could make some kind of smartass remark she heard the annoying buzzing of his phone thing.

Before he could react she had snatched it from his lap, her fingers grazing his groin. She didn't notice the contact, or the barely perceptible amount that he stiffened, but there was a grin on her face as she pressed the 'respond' button.

"Hello. Uchiha can't come to the phone right now, but feel free to leave a message!" Sakura chirped, ignoring the quiet growl that escaped his lips.

Neither of them were really expecting an oddly masculine voice to respond, though.

"_Oh, really? That is unfortunate… especially since we have your precious assistant.__"_ Oh shit.

"Sakura, give me the phone," the raven-haired male made a reach for it, but she leaned away and looked at the screen.

It was black. There was only a pair of ringed eyes looking back at her… hm.

"What…?"

The medic was a bit confused, but Itachi had already stopped the car to try and reach for the handheld device. Sakura proceeded to unbuckle her seatbelt and lean back, pushing him away with her feet as she strained to hear the voice.

"_I know you can__'__t do anything without her, girl. Has Itachi not informed you of this?__"_

"Of course he did, because Itachi and I are best friends. Let's pretend he didn't tell me, though."

Greyish, pixelated eyes narrowed, and Itachi couldn't help himself… He facepalmed, the nice plashing noise reaching the rosette's ears.

"_Insolent girl…__"_Sakura was about to make an angry retort before the screen switched to a young, black-haired female tied to a chair. Her skin glowed faintly from the light coming from the ceiling, but she looked relatively unharmed.

"_**Lemme go, you bastard! I**__**'**__**ll kill you, I swear!**__**"**_

"_You see this girl? She is your ticket to saving the survivors… Apparently you don__'__t know where you__'__re headed. If you do not come to rescue her, you will never get into the lab, and everything will just die out… we will then build the world anew.__"_

"What do you mean, 'lab'?" Sakura turned towards Itachi, who merely raised an eyebrow. It was his 'there's-a-reason-I-don't-tell-you-anything" look. She shook her head, and turned back to the phone. "Where is she?"

"_That is something you will find out… though I will give you a hint.__"_Itachi listened closely now, though he was still glaring firmly at the pink-haired woman.

"_You are close to a village. I recommend that you take the time to explore it… You may find something of interest. You will find a roll of film with some instructions. You have twenty-four hours to reach the designated point.__"_

"How do we know where that is?" Her tone was irate, but she was keeping calm the best she could… Though everyone knew that her temper was boiling beneath the surface.

"_Believe me, you will know it when you see it… it has quite the smell.__""_ A smirk and a click.

With that the call ended, and the young woman resisted the urge to toss the phone out the goddamn window. "Damn it!"

"Sakura, give me the phone." She handed it over, and he began to tap away on it.

A few long moments later and he made a pleased sound, starting the SUV once more and flying down the road.

"Where are we going?"

"Where do you think?" Smartass.

"Oh, ha-ha." The Uchiha smirked to himself, and continued driving. Yes, annoying people was a good pastime. Everything seemed to be fine until she opened her mouth to speak once more, her words making him want to beat his head against the steering wheel.

"Hey Itachi… are we there yet?"

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 6:15 PM**

**Entrance, Deserted Village**

**Village Gates**

**- - -**

"It's locked."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Way to state the obvious. "No shit. It's a deserted village: it probably got locked under quarantine or something like that."

The Uchiha shook his head, brushing his hair back behind his ear. It was kind of girly, Sakura thought, but at least he didn't wear eyeliner. She swore that his brother did, because no one could have such perfectly rimmed eyes unless they were an expert. This occupied her head for a while, or at least until she was poked in the forehead.

"Ouch!"

"Ouch?" He hadn't poked her that hard. "How on earth did you survive this long?"

Sakura bristled. "I certainly didn't hide underground, unlike _you_."

"I have a job to do."

"Yeah, and so do I!" His aloof demeanour was really starting to piss her off. "It just doesn't help that everyone who I need for my job is either dead or a goddamn _zombie_."

"You say that like it's my fault," he drawled, turning the lock over in his hands. "It's not like I started this whole ordeal."

"For all I know you could have." Her voice was low as she pushed him out of the way with a glare. He watched with interest as she dug through one of her pouches, procuring a leather satchel that was rolled and tied. She turned her back to him, and he heard the clink of metal before a satisfied hiss.

He raised a brow when she put the kit away, a triumphant grin on her face. "What did you do?"

She threw the lock at him, pushing open the door with one finger and a yawn. Well, that was a new trick.

"You pick locks?"

"I had to get around somehow."

Fair enough, though it did not exactly merit her to saunter back to the SUV, climbing into the passenger's side as she waited for him. It was as if she knew exactly which buttons to press to set him off in the worst possible ways… not that he would allow her to, of course, because that would show signs of weakness.

So, with his blasé mask in place, he climbed in next to her and drove ever so slowly into the village. From first glance it looked empty and clean, like no one would have lived there. Upon closer inspection, though, one could see the dried pools of blood, nail marks scratched into soft woods, rotting carcasses of small animals and birds here and there. Most of all, though, was the huge cloud of billowing smoke coming from the other side of the town.

"Wow." That pretty much summed up what Sakura thought of the place, and Itachi had to agree. Both of them had thought there would be more zombies, but it seems that there was not…

"We should look around." It was more of a command, not a suggestion, but Sakura had to agree. The two got out of the car, taking all of their weapons and a canteen each along with them. He tossed her a walkie-talkie, slipping his own earpiece into his ear.

"So… I'll go right, you go left?" He nodded.

"Meet back at the vehicle in an hour… And don't die."

Sakura scoffed. "How about you watch your back, pretty boy," she said, stepping closer and twirling the end of her ponytail around her fingers. "'Cause you never know when a ghoul'll grab onto your hair."

The smirk on her face told him she knew from experience, and he merely watched her with the oddest expression as she left. He didn't even have a retort, and that never happened.

With a shake of his head he went left, hoping that she was wrong about zombies and hair.

He definitely did not want to know.

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 6:41 PM**

**Village Square, Deserted Village**

**Sniping Point, West Rooftop**

**- - -**

"Tell me again why we're here?" The voice drawled. The male beside him sighed, bringing his palm to his forehead with a rather loud, exaggerated plashing sound.

"I told you six times today."

"That doesn't mean I was listening," the shorter male said, rummaging through his bag for something. "'kay, so you'll tell me again, Tristian?"

The man named Tristian shook his head. "Alex, no…" a scowl crossed his face. "And put that camera away."

Alex shook his head. "No way, man. This is an awesome time to take pictures of—"

"WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, SITTING ON THE ROOF OF A HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE SO THAT WE CAN ASSASSINATE SOMEONE." Alex shrugged, and continued checking his precious camera. Tristain muttered something about pretty-boys.

"…You done with your rifle yet?" Brown hair swayed as Tristian shook his head, and Alex groaned rather melodramatically. "Seriously? You were supposed to be done fifteen minutes ago."

"No, your mom was supposed to be done fifteen minutes ago." That was a normal answer from his partner, but Alex, instead of laughing, snapped a picture of Tristian. "Alex, you'd better delete that."

That remark was greeted by another clicking noise, to which Tristian said something rather offensive, to which Alex responded by calling him something terrible in French, which soon launched an all-out diss war. They looked to be fighting to an outsider, but more often than not the two were either telling the other 'no you' or plotting something utterly ridiculous. How they had been hired by Senju was beyond most other assassins, but when the two actually got rolling they did their job quite well.

About six point three minutes into their little fight, Alex's cell phone rang. Tristian reached for it, was swatted, and thus allowed the black-haired man to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"_What__'__s taking so long?__"_Oh shit. Alex nearly cringed at the tone of their employer's voice, but responded smoothly, ignoring the 'gimme-the-phone' look from the taller man.

"Tristian is failing at setting up his rifle, so I've just been helping him."

Said rifleman scowled. "I was not _failing._"

Alex covered the receiver with his hand and glared. Tristian glared right back after getting the silent message.

"Sorry about that. Were you saying something…?"

If eyebrow twitches could be heard, Alex definitely would have heard that one.

"_I was saying that leaving you two alone was not such a good idea… I__'__m sending someone in. They should be deploying soon.__"_

"We can handle it fine alone, so you don't—"

"_I said I was sending someone. Make no move until he arrives.__"_A click signified the end of the call.

"Dammit Alex, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! This is _your_ fault."

"No, it's your mom's fault."

"NO YOUR FACE."

"NO YOUR MOM'S FACE!"

And so it would go on until the poor, unfortunate helper arrived. Too bad that they were loud enough to be heard by those below.

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 6:52 PM**

**Back Alley. Deserted Village**

**Slaughterhouse, Southern Sanction**

**- - -**

"What the hell was that?" The airy crackle of her earpiece signified that Itachi had grunted. Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm not kidding. I swear I heard something this time!"

"_Of course, Sakura. Just like when you heard the click of a camera.__"_

"But I did! Why don't you believe me?"

"_Because this is a deserted village. Deserted means that there is no one here.__"_His tone was even and placating, but that was just pissing the roseate off more than if he had said "AW HELLZ NAW, WOMAN."

"Itachi, you really need to trust me this time." She turned off her earpiece before he could respond, which was probably a really bad idea.

With a sigh the woman poked around what looked to be a rather large, smelly house. Observant little thing, wasn't she? Sakura walked around it a couple of times—it looked empty enough—before finally placing her gloved hand on the door and very, very gently pushing it open. The door barely made a sound, but as she peered inside she was greeted by a rather large amount of carnage that she didn't want to see.

Not to mention the _stink_.

"Ewww."

Sakura covered her nose as she looked around the room—scratch the 'large house' theory. This was not just a large house. This was an abandoned(?) slaughterhouse, and of course she had to be the one that found it. Mouldy corpses of animals (and possibly humans, they were far too decomposed to tell) were littering the floors and hung from the ceilings, which immediately put the woman on her guard. If she could smell all that meat from a good ten feet away, there was every possible reason why a zombie could, too.

She made her way through the room as carefully as she could, ignoring the crunch of bones and the squish of meat. Sadly enough the smell had stopped bothering her by the time her gaze had settled on the nice, dim light coming from the back of the house. Huh, maybe a way out…?

No, it looked shiny. What the hell in here could be shiny?

Well, she was going to find out. The medic picked up her pace, yanking a butcher's knife out of a slab of wood as she tiptoed through the debris and flesh. She drew nearer to the point, and it was indeed something shiny. Sakura picked it up, the most peculiar look on her face.

"Itachi? I just found something."

"_What did you find?__"_

"…Well, it looks to be a roll of—OH SHIT!"

Sakura's sentence was cut off by a scream and a deafening moan. She probably should have realized that there was a window right next to that table, and avoided it.

Then maybe Itachi wouldn't been able to use her own words against her.

"LET GO OF MY HAIR, YOU UNDEAD BASTARD!"

A nauseating crunch was all Itachi heard over the mike, and then silence. That could not be a good thing.

But he did smirk, like the bastard he was.

Then he went to save her.

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 7:03 PM**

**Back Alley. Deserted Village**

**Slaughterhouse Storage, Southern Sanction**

**- - -**

By the time Itachi arrived, his ear was stinging from the loudness of her yells, and apparently he hadn't been needed.

As he threw open the door a really sickening _crack_ reached his ears, and a pile of undead flesh was hurled. He dodged it easily, but was not expecting to see his pink-haired partner sitting on the ground, her hair cut short and covered in blood as she kicked a beheaded zombie away from her person.

Her glare would have made him cower, but he was way too cool for that. Naw, instead a bead of sweat ran down his temple.

"YOU." Her tone was dripping with venom. He took a step back, but held her wrathful gaze.

"Sakura, calm down."

"WHY SHOULD I? MY HAIR IS GONE." He tried not to sigh. He honestly did.

"Did you cut it off?" The ends didn't look torn…

"NO SHIT."

"Why?" His tone, as annoying as it was, was soothing her a bit. Sakura lowered her voice a few decibels and took a deep, cleansing breath before continuing.

"Because that ghoul grabbed onto it and dragged me in here. Uncharacteristic, yeah, but he tore out a rather large chunk…" she pointed a non-uniform pile of hair and sighed. "Then I realized that I was going to die if I didn't get out of his grip."

"So you cut it." He came towards her as she nodded, and this time she didn't step back. "Why is that so bad?"

She sighed. "Because I've been growing it for so long… it reminded me of how things used to be."

So that's what this was about. His brow creased slightly as he thought, finally placing a large, warm hand on her shoulder and guiding her towards the door.

"I see." Sakura frowned at his tone. He sounded almost… guilty.

"Is something wrong…?"

"No." He shook his head. "What did you find?"

_Way to change the subject. _Sakura thought, rolling her eyes. She dug around in her bag for a moment before procuring a small, silver object.

"What is it?"

She smiled.

"A roll of film."

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 7:32 PM**

**Village Square, Deserted Village**

**Sniping Point, West Rooftop**

**- - -**

It had been… forty-nine minutes. Forty-nine long, really boring minutes.

Not to mention that the sound of a camera taking pictures seemed really loud when there were only two people around to hear it.

Tristian sighed. Wasn't someone supposed to be coming to help them? Their boss had said so.

Blowing a strand of hair away from his face so that he could see the clouds, the young man mused over everything that had happened in the last three quarters (and more!) of an hour. He and Alex had finished their "NO YOU" fight, he had shot at least twelve birds, Alex had tossed a roll of film into a slaughterhouse that had contained their target's assignment… Oh yes, good times. Now they were waiting, and his partner—the aspiring model/photographer—was taking pictures of the sky and the trees to document this experience.

"Hey Tristian, come look at this!"

"Is it a picture?" Alex nodded. Of course it was a picture.

"Do not want."

"But—"

"Lemme stare, okay?" Alex pouted.

"Fine."

Tristian didn't really notice when a shadow covered his line of view. It grew bigger and bigger until finally—OH LAWD, FINALLY—a man wearing a parachute dropped from the sky. The brown-haired man scrambled from his position to stand and allow the man to land.

He was greeted by white, frosted hair. Oh yay.

"Who're you?" Alex muttered something before the white-haired man could respond, and was promptly glared at.

"Sukiyaki Jukai. I was sent to help."

Tristian rolled his eyes. "I said we didn't need any. I could do the job myself."

"Apparently not. Where's the target?"

"Over there." Alex pointed, and Tristian swatted his hand. "Ouch!"

"Fine, it's over there. What are you gonna do about it… frost it to death?"

Jukai's eyebrow twitched as Tristian met his gaze. Wow, the frosty guy had two different colours of eyes. He wondered briefly if it was natural, but instead he was smacked on the forehead.

"Of course not. I'm going to blow it up."

"With wha---That's a rocket launcher." Jukai rolled his multi-tonal eyes.

"Uh, yeah."

"That'll get the job done." Alex looked happy enough as he pointed his camera at the nice, shiny

SUV parked at the town gates. Tristian scowled.

"Yeah right."

"Then watch this." Jukai pulled the large weapon from its holster on his back and kneeled, using the side of the building as a stand for the end. Tristian and Alex both sat a good distance away—recoil—and leaned over the side to get a good look.

"And three, two, one…" There was a rush of heat and sound before the rocket left the barrel, heading right at the car.

With a nice, loud KABOOM, it exploded. Jukai smirked, and Alex snapped away happily.

"Beautiful."

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 7:37 PM**

**Entrance, Deserted Village**

**Village Gates**

**- - -**

Sakura was breathless by the time that they reached the gates. Both she and Itachi had heard a really huge explosion (SHE HAD TOLD HIM THAT THERE WAS SOMEONE HERE OTHER THAN THEM) and had immediately assumed it was their (his) car. They were… Partially right.

It had taken a while to get from the slaughterhouse to the gates, and they had arrived at what seemed to be a bad time. They had _just_ missed what had happened to what was left of their car.

If you could call it a car. It was not a vehicle anymore: no, it was a burning ball of flames that lit up the general area and sent a nice, warm glow over everything. That was not helping the situation.

"Dude…" Sakura was incredulous.

"Where… is my car?" Itachi did not sound like anything. He sounded… neutral.

Sakura knew better. He was fuming underneath the perfect, masculine exterior.

"Itachi, I'm so—"

"Don't say it, Sakura." The Uchiha reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, and tapped a code in before replacing it. She had no idea what he did, but she didn't ask.

It didn't even take six minutes until she heard the whirr of a chopper, prompting her jaw to drop.

"YOU COULD SUMMON A HELICOPTER, YET WE DROVE."

Itachi smirked as the ropes dropped. "It was more efficient."

Sakura sputtered as he took her hand, pulling her along as his rope was pulled back into the aircraft. She squeezed her eyes shut until Itachi had assured her that she was strapped in, and that was when she promptly glared.

"Where the hell are we going now?"

"To get a new car. What else?"

After all this, he was deciding that they were going to be driving again. Well, that would just give her more opportunity to piss him off.

"Hey Itachi… are we there yet?"

Itachi turned to the pilot. "Please hurry."

Oh yes. This was going to be a long ride.


	6. V: Your Princess Is In Another Castle

**A/N: I am sorry this took so long. xD I'm terrible, but it's done! And out on my birthday... Happy 16th to me.**

Thanks to BrittMarie for being amazing once again and betaing this for me. She is sooo good.

THIS STORY IS RATED M. MOSTLY FOR LANGUAGE, GORE AND VIOLENCE, IDEALOGICALLY SENSITIVE MATERIALS AND GOOD OLD SEXUAL CONTENT.

Not in this chapter, though. Just fluff. ENJOY!

-does not own Naruto-

* * *

"_**Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss would be losing to some undead bastard."**_

* * *

_I know that I always seem to start complaining about Itachi at every chance I get, and I it might seem a bit odd to some people but in all honesty, I don_'_t think that he deserves a good word sometimes. Yeah, he totally saved my ass the first time we met, but he always seems so pompous and just… mreh. Like he doesn_'_t care about anything, or more specifically, me. _

_But on that note, he_'_s ridiculously protective. It doesn_'_t make any sense! He won_'_t let me do anything that could get me in danger, yet he continues to say that I have to go on this mission with him. He says that there_'_s something that he can_'_t do alone and that I need to do it. Something about locks and houses and forests… And I overheard him on the ride from the helicopter (which I did rage about) talking about my father. What the hell does he have to do with anything? He_'_s _dead_._

_It has nothing to do with anything, that_'_s what I thought, considering that he completely disregarded my anger to whisper with the pilot for gods know what reasons and not tell me anything. That resulted in me tugging on the end of the Uchiha_'_s ponytail and yelling "YOU LISTEN TO ME NOW, YOU MANIPULATIVE BASTARD!" which then prompted him to fall backwards and offset the weight of the helicopter (not my fault) and the guy flying the damn thing yelled at both of us and said we had to sit still. _

_That meant I couldn_'_t rage anymore. Instead I fumed until we got back to where ever the hell Itachi_'_s office/prison/apartment/thing was._

_It was a long twenty minutes, and if I recalled correctly we now had less than twenty-four hours to find out where the meeting point was and find a way to get his little friend back (but for some reason, I kinda thought that she could take care of herself. She survived this long, didn_'_t she?) and then do whatever the hell that we_'_re actually supposed to be doing. _

_I wish he would have told me stuff more often. He always seemed to be really closed off._

**- - - **

**August 6th, 8:22 PM**

**Itachi**'**s Underground Apartment, Uchiha Corps**

**20 hours, 38 minutes remain**

**- - -**

"That took way too long," Sakura complained, dropping her bloodstained coat on his chair. Of course he winced a bit, but it was leather and it wasn't like it couldn't be wiped down or replaced.

"It wouldn't have been so long if you had not pulled my hair."

"Well soooooooorr-y. You should have told me you had a helicopter."

He smirked slightly, noting her scowl as she examined her new, shorter hair in the mirror. It was in need of a trim, obviously, but they style suited her. She still looked feminine, but more of an I-could-totally-kick-your-ass kind of feminine.

"It was more convenient to drive." She rolled her eyes.

"You know what else would be convenient? A _shower_."

"There's a bathroom right over there." He pointed, and she raised an eyebrow.

"There's also no running water, because if I recall we're kind of in the middle of a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE." Oi, she needed to stop yelling. Itachi sighed.

"This facility is on a private water and power network. We were prepared for the chance of outages."

Well, how was that possible? There was no way to know unless you saw this situation coming… Sakura's brow creased, but she didn't pursue the subject.

"Oh."

"Mm… and just yesterday you walked in on me changing after one, correct?" OKAY, THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR. Her cheeks flushed a bright red as a scowl crossed her face, remembering the repercussions of that intrusion and how warm and tight his body had been…

"Shut up, Itachi."

With that she stalked off to said washroom, discarding her boots outside the door and closing it behind her. Of course he knew that she was bound to use all the hot water and not once would she ever stop to think about whether or not _he_ wanted to get clean. Then again he had not chopped off his hair or dismembered a zombie with his bare hands… but it was worth a try to at least get her to reconsider wreaking her revenge via his mood being eaten alive by grief due to lack of hot water.

He approached the door, using one knuckle to rap on the dark, polished wood. "Sakura, I—"

Apparently he was not allowed to finish that sentence, because within that time the door opened with a 'click', and a small amount of sweet-smelling, bloodstained fabric hit him in the face before it was closed.

"No. Go figure out that damn tape and let me have my shower in peace!"

Itachi sighed. Fair enough.

**- - -**

Sakura studied her new hair in the mirror, ignoring the bruises that covered her stomach and shoulders from the damn ghoul that had dragged her away.

She had never been all too fond of her hair colour, but she did like the length. As a teenager she had insisted on cutting it short in a display of rebellion—along with getting herself a tattoo—but as she grew older and had proved herself capable, she no longer found it necessary to do such a thing. Instead she had grown it, and it had been so nice and long, thick and wavy and just perfect.

But now it was gone, and needed to be trimmed. The once elbow-length locks were now jagged and just below her shoulders, the longest bits at her shoulder blades. With a sigh she began to rummage through the drawers, and finally procured a pair of scissors.

There was silence as she brushed out her hair, neatly trimming the ends of her hair so that they were even before slicing at the right angle to give it more of a natural look. It didn't take long, but once she was done Haruno Sakura had effectively given herself a haircut.

She turned her head left and right, examining the way it looked. It could still be tied back and it looked good, so she supposed it wasn't that bad… it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone, after all.

Of course Itachi didn't count. As hot as he was, he was a total prick and seemed to take it upon himself to make her miserable. She mulled that fact over as she pulled off the remainder of her clothing, turning on the hot water and stepping into the shower.

A soft sound of bliss left her lips at the sensation of the water (and the fact that she was finally getting clean), her eyes closing and all thoughts of Itachi leaving her mind…

Well, at least until the little voice in her head started describing what it would be like to have company. Sakura scowled, blushing even though she was alone. Now that she thought about it she was alone in his shower, using his things, being treated with some fucked-up kind of respect and what not… and he _had_ kissed her (more like made out with, but that didn't matter) and it had been _nice_.

His motives were questionable, however, and she believed that if he really wanted her he would at least make an effort. Thus, thinking about him wet and naked and pressed against her was completely out of the question, and so she kicked the voice and told it to shut up as she reached for the shampoo.

Her hand grasped the bottle, the scent filling the air as she uncapped it. It wasn't something overly-perfumed, nor was it fruity, flowery or otherwise feminine. It smelled like him, kinda, and it was oddly comforting… kinda.

Not that she really had a choice in her shampoo's scent. Washing her hair and shaving her legs (yes, his razor was used) without another thought, the roseate shut off the water and wrapped herself in one of the many plush, black towels that adorned his bathroom.

Now just to find something to wear… at least he was gone for now.

**- - - **

**August 6th, 5:34 PM**

**Unknown Location, Underground Base**

**20 hours, 8 minutes remain**

**- - -**

Nagato leaned back in his chair, a smug grin on his face after being informed that yes, his plan had been a success. For his own enjoyment (not really any evil planning) he had told various henchmen to do terrible things to hinder the Haruno girl's progress… well, mostly he wanted her dead and her fingers chopped off, but it was more fun to watch her freak out and kill things. It would eventually lead to her own demise and, in fact, she would never reach the goal. Not to mention that his tape made no sense whatsoever and it was too far for them to get to by car within twenty-four hours.

With a yawn, he turned to look out the window that was not actually a window. It was instead a computer screen that could be programmed to be whatever kind of weather was suitable. Man, those Senju sure knew how to run things.

"_**Nagato, there'**__**s some bad news."**_

Well, that broke his reverie. Bad news… what on earth could have possibly happened? There was no good reason why his secretary, the lovely Konan (who he had known since diapers), would have any bad news.

The redhead pushed the button on the intercom. "What do you mean, bad news?"

"_**I, um, well… you see we kinda… there'**__**s been an…" **_Nagato made a sound of impatience, and he heard the woman clear her throat.

"_**Your hostage escaped."**_

It did not take an intercom for Konan, who was three floors away, to hear his yell.

Oh yes, they were in trouble now.

**- - - **

**August 6th, 9:06 PM**

**Film Lab, Uchiha Corps**

**19 hours, 4 minutes remain**

**- - -**

It had taken a couple hours for Itachi to figure out that tape. He found that if nothing, their enemy was a bit sadistic.

That had been nearly impossible. Encrypted, in code, scrambled, crappy quality… it had taken more than an ounce of his patience and much more than one cup of coffee for him to sit through that. And people wondered why he had insomnia…

But the point was, he knew where they were supposed to go, and he also knew that Sakura wasn't going to like it. There was good reason: she hadn't known of the truth about her childhood home.

Her father had charged him on his deathbed with her protection in exchange for the ultimate biological weapon. A biochemist employed by Uchiha Corps, Haruno Toru had been one of the most intelligent men he had ever met, and also one of the most devoted. His wife left him after bearing him a child, taking all his money and leaving him with nothing but the house. He had sold his brainpower to science, and had signed a multi-million dollar contract.

Needless to say he spent it building up his lab, which just so happened to be completely underground. He asked for a loan from the company, and they had complied—so long as it was connected to the main building via tunnel. Sadly he put so many traps and locks on it that they could no longer get in, and now needed fingerprints to get inside… and the last one in the Haruno line was the daughter he had so loved.

The lovely, humble, quiet and complacent Haruno Sakura.

Itachi snorted. Yeah right.

Regardless, he had to be nice to her until he could get inside. She was utterly infuriating, full of fire and a spirit that could content with a hurricane. And yet she was growing on him… too bad they were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, or he would probably work on tapping that.

Well, he was also nearly worried that she would castrate him or something.

He doubted it, in all honesty. She seemed so eager to return his kiss, so nice and pliant under his expert touches. It would probably be too easy to get her in his bed, but there was no time since they had a deadline. With a sigh, he heaved himself out of the comfy, rather sinister looking chair and made his way back up to _his_ room.

**- - - **

The room seemed to quiet when he arrived, so he took caution while unlocking and opening the door. He scanned the room, noting that his closet door was open, but thought nothing of it until his eyes rested upon his bed.

There, lightly sleeping, was Sakura.

As her clothes were dirty (he could hear the washer running) she was wearing one of his shirts and what looked to be nothing else. It rode high on her thighs, the skin glowing in the dim light. Her hair was splayed across his pillows, vibrantly contrasting with the black of his sheets. Full lips were slightly parted and wet, her breath coming in even and calm. She looked absolutely divine.

And… cute, of all things. Yes, this was how he liked her—quiet and looking like she was his.

Wait, what? No. She was a rambunctious little witch that yelled too much and was far too amused by his misery for her own good. Attractive, yes, but never his type.

Though she did look pretty hot ripping zombies to shreds. There was something attractive about a girl that could use weapons.

_Damn._ Itachi shook his head, approaching the sleeping girl quietly. They had time, right? It wasn't like he couldn't take a nap and then set an alarm. With a smirk he did just that—two hours exactly. It was his bed anyway: he could sleep where he wanted to. If she was there, so be it.

He removed his shirt and got under the covers, being sure to stay away from her delicious warmth. Tempting as it was, he would like to wake with his head attached.

**- - - **

**August 6th, 9:06 PM**

**Itachi**'**s Underground Apartment, Uchiha Corps**

**17 hours, 0 minutes remain**

**- - -**

Sakura felt oddly warm when she woke, and found herself pressed against what seemed to be a nice, firm wall. Her brow creased, eyelashes fluttering at the sound of an alarm… When had she done that? Groping for the button, Sakura smacked it and felt the immense satisfaction of the sound stopping. She cuddled closer to the source of heat until she felt it _move_ and pull her closer.

What the fuck…?

She finally opened her eyes and realized that _OH SHIT, THERE IS A SHIRTLESS MAN NEXT TO ME_.

More accurately a shirtless Itachi, but that was beside the point. When had that happened? Wasn't he supposed to be figuring out the tape and not sleeping? Not to mention that it seemed that he hadn't moved, she had—it was just instinct for him to put his arms around her.

Aw man, this was going to be awkward as all hell. Good thing there was no one around but zombies, because this would look so bad if someone walked in.

Maneuvering carefully, Sakura somehow managed to disentangle herself from him so that she could get up and get dressed—he had flipped over her laundry. Aw, that was nice. She unbuttoned the shirt slowly, inching over to the machines to pull out her clothing. Damn, all this zombie hunting was great for being silent…

That was until she was pulling on her undergarments and heard him stir, raise himself up, and call her name.

"Sakura, what are you… _Oh_."

Sakura cringed, but promptly squeaked and threw his shirt that she had been wearing right at his face. She did not appreciate being stared at while she was changing, dammit!

"Don't look, please." He nodded mutely, knowing that if he removed the shirt she would snap his neck. Not that she could, really, but the shirt also smelt nice—like cherries and chamomile and himself, because it was his. It was strange to have a female in his room for more than a few hours.

She didn't really notice his musing, too busy trying to cool off her cheeks as she hastily pulled on her clothing. Maybe she should change the subject.

"So, um, why were you here when I woke up?"

"It's my bed, Sakura. You were the intruder." She rolled her eyes. He was so logical.

"Yeah well, I kinda needed the sleep. Did you figure out where we need to go?" Small hands tugged down the tight-fitting crimson fabric, though it more from nervousness than necessity.

He nodded again, this time meeting her eyes when she approached to remove the fabric from over his face. "It was not difficult. We are supposed to be in the Senju foyer before our time is up."

_Senju…? _Sakura frowned, nibbling her lip. "Why Senju?"

"They are the ones with the hostage."

"But aren't they another pharmaceutical company?"

"Of course."

"How does that make any _sense_?" Itachi sighed patiently as she sat. He rose to get dressed, and the roseate honestly did her best not to stare. Needless to say she failed, but he wasn't really paying attention.

"They are obviously planning something, and have survived the apocalypse—or they were taken over." His expression clouded for a moment, as if he were a bit surprised at the thought. "Regardless of what is going on, we must retrieve Megan before we can continue. It is only a minor setback."

"But why do we need her?" He was really bad at explaining things, apparently.

"To complete our mission."

That struck a nerve, and she scowled at him as she watched his back. "You never even told me what our mission _is_."

He tilted his head, looking over his shoulder at her with a raised brow. "Of course not."

"Then why the hell should I bother with this? I don't even _know_ you, let alone want to deal with something that's not my problem. I just wanna survive this thing, not have to fix the world's issue! It's not my problem, nor is it yours! It's not like you caused it or something!"

She didn't notice the minute amount his muscles tensed: she was too busy staring at the ceiling, fuming.

"…Relax, Sakura. Everything will be revealed in due time."

"And how much more time?"

"About sixteen hours and thirty-four minutes."

She watched as he pulled on his coat. Why he always wore that black and red suit was beyond her, but she wasn't complaining. It was then she realized what time it was, and she grinned.

"Let's go."

**- - -**

**August 7th, 7:22 AM**

**Foyer, Senju Industries**

**1 hour, 38 minutes remain**

**- - -**

"That… is a really big door."

"Obviously."

Their drive had not been nice. Literally nine hours of getting lost, and then one repairing the car, and then one to deal with injuries, and then they walked the rest of the way. Neither was happy, but _annoyed_ was not even close.

For about the fifth time since they arrived two minutes ago, Sakura scowled at the Uchiha. "You say that like I'm retarded or something."

He resisted the urge to say something, and this time succeeded. Instead he sighed, checking his watch. Sakura rolled her eyes and wandered a bit before yelling for him.

"HEY ITACHI!" The roseate gestured for him to come over to her, and he complied. When he arrived she flashed him a rather smug grin. "There's a back door."

"It's probably lock—" He didn't even get the words out before she swung herself around, and kicked the door in with a rather loud, noticeable 'BANG!'. As it turns out, yes, it was locked, but she hit it so hard that she snapped the lock clean in two. Sakura hopped on one foot, cursing her life while he stared.

"Oww…" She tested her weight before stepping down, then tiptoeing in. He raised an eyebrow in his slight amusement, wondering what the point of making such a loud noise and then sneaking in. They were expected anyway.

He shrugged to himself and followed, not once thinking to draw his weapon. Sakura did, but mostly because whatever kind of place seemed safe never really was. Verdant eyes searched the area, trying to adjust to the dim light.

That was when he heard the click of heels.

Itachi frowned. Wasn't the person who captured their target a male…?

Sakura, unlike Itachi, didn't care. She pulled out a flashlight, flicked it on and held it above her weapon, shining it in the direction of the noise. "Show yourself!"

There was high, feminine laughter before a single snap, and the lights turned on, exposing their company.

She was tall, with blue hair piled atop her head in a strange style. There was a small paper flower in her hair, but that didn't really matter. A black suit clung to her body, skirt pulled tight and hands on her hips. She appeared to be unarmed, but this was not someone to be taken lightly—Itachi knew this woman.

"Konan. How… _nice_ to see you again." His voice was pleasant, though both women could detect a hint of malice. They were not on good terms, Sakura supposed, but didn't care: instead she directed her weapon at said woman, emerald eyes narrowing to slits.

Konan, however, seemed amused. "Mm, hello Itachi. I see you have brought a guest."

Her look hinted that she knew why Sakura was there. Itachi glowered in his own Uchiha way, but the roseate was outright glaring.

"You know full well why she and I are here. Would you mind telling us where our friend is?"

The blue-haired woman mused mockingly, circling them nice and slow while she tapped her chin. Sakura's laser sight followed her movements, but Itachi remained still. Finally, it seemed that Konan had a reply, but it wasn't really the one they wanted.

"Why? So you can have her too? I would think having this… female would be enough." Her haughty tone made Sakura growl, but Itachi shook his head.

"It's not like that."

"Really? Because she smells just like you—I would never have thought that you would keep things a secret." A smirk crossed her face. "Unless she's a man… or some kind of skank."

"What did you just say?" Sakura hissed. Itachi took a step back: this was not going to end well. Konan, however, grinned smugly at her reaction.

Cobalt clashed with jade for a brief moment. "I called you a skank. That means a whore, slut, prostitute, strumpet—"

"I know what it means." The rosette's voice was deathly quiet, her eyes burning with hatred. "Why don't you come say it to my face, you disease-infested cunt?"

That got a reaction. Konan's eyes narrowed almost as fast as she approached. Soon enough the two women were face to face.

"Say that again."

"With pleasure." Sakura was the smug one now, but she didn't get the words out before Konan whispered something that Itachi could not quite hear.

He knew it was bad, however, by Sakura's reaction.

"YOU COCKSUCKING WHORE! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Sakura then proceeded to lunge at the woman's throat, effectively wrapping her thin hands around and squeezing hard.

Itachi's eyes widened. _Shit_.

"Sakura, no!" He grabbed her around the waist and pried her hands off Konan's neck. The taller woman glared, her breath coming in harsh pants that rivaled Sakura's own.

"Let me at her! I'm going to _kill_ that bitch!"

"No killing the woman in charge of the hostage." He was stupidly calm, and that was just pissing her off more. Sakura struggled fruitlessly while Konan gasped for breath.

It was a few good minutes of negotiating that weren't really working at all until Konan finally opened her mouth again, and what she was only going to make things worse.

"Your… princess is in… another castle."

The pair stopped, and stared at the woman. "What?" They chorused.

"She escaped. Good luck, bitches."

Before either could react, Konan snapped her fingers. The lights went out.

"FUCK MY FUCKING LIFE." It was obvious who was cursing.

When the lights came back on, Sakura was nearing the point of breaking down. "Now what?"

"Well, there's only one place she would go."

"Do you know where that is?"

Itachi gave her the 'look'. Sakura scowled. "How are we getting there?"

"By foot."

"OH HELL NO. I AM NOT WALKING."

"You either walk or I make you stay here."

Sakura muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'bring it'. Itachi raised a brow.

"Yes or no, Sakura."

"… fine. Lead the way, pretty boy."

* * *

  
**Sorry about Konan. She's a nice lady.**

Reviews for birthday? :D They inspire me. 


	7. VI: Bongs and Buckshot

**A/N: This chapter may offend some. I apologize it is so late, by the way, but there have been a couple issues that needed to be resolved first.**

This story is rated M with damn good reason, I don't own Naruto, and I dedicate this chapter to Locke, because though he is a total douchebag and would definitely do something like this, he really does help me write. :D

_

* * *

_

The good life is what I need

_**  
Too many people stepping over me**_

_**  
The only thing that's been on my mind**_

_****_

The one thing I need before I die

* * *

_Well, it was needless to say that meeting with Konan did not go as planned for Itachi. He seemed to think that calling her names and trying to kill her was a bit much for what she had said and completely unnecessary, because now she would probably be bent on taking revenge on both of us by telling us that Megan had escaped when in reality she could be in this huge, shiny building. _"And for that matter"_, he had said, _"What did she even say to you?"

_Of course I didn't want to tell him, because I didn't want him to get the wrong idea about me, nor did I want him to think I was into him, or that I cared or was jealous or anything… But sadly enough I was jealous, because Konan had oh-so-nicely informed me that I would not be the first woman that the Uchiha had banged, but the hundredth, and that was only those she _knew_ of. _

_Yeah, that didn't make me feel too happy. Yes, looking at him I would most certainly believe he could have that many women, and he certainly was enough of a dick (and apparently had enough of one) to go around. Not only that, but the thought of the things he could just do to me made me hot on the inside. Yep, I wanted to screw my partner, but that—nor the thoughts—were allowed, so I had to exterminate the source, and that was Konan. _

_I shouldn't be explaining myself. It is a waste of my time, but so was what happened next. _

_Itachi was pissy that apparently the girl was gone, and so he said that we had to go and look for her until we found her, and it would start within the building. I had rolled my eyes and complained, telling him he could suck my dick for all I cared, but he only smirked and told me that he would if I returned the favour, promptly making me blush and storm off._

_We were there for about three hours. Nothing but a couple of smashed windows and ammo to be found, and the room where Megan had been tied to a chair. Well, at least we had found where she had been… But we eventually left. He walked ahead of me, talking into the stupid PalmPilot thing in muted tones, trying to track who was supposedly going to help us. We didn't really know where she could be, and Japan was one big city… _

_Little did I know that was the least of our worries._

**- - -**

**August 6th, 7:52 PM**

**Classified Location, Unknown Territory**

**East Forest**

**- - -**

Okay, next time she was made hostage she was not going to wait around for someone to come and save her. It was painful and boring and she had nearly died from the sheer stupidity of the muscled guards that had been pretty hot but were also completely retarded. There hadn't even been a fight when she had left.

Megan had merely wriggled out of her bindings and walked up to them, claiming she had to go to the washroom, and they had let her through.

"_Are you sure you wanna do that?"_ Megan had said, in utter disbelief at how easy this was. _"I could escape or something."_

They both blinked unthinkingly, then looked at each other before returning to her. The taller one spoke. _"Well, uh, are you?"_

"…_No…?"_

"_Then go ahead. Five minutes."_

Trying with all her might not to laugh she walked past them and down the hallway before booking it to the doors with a mighty laugh. That was too easy! Wow, if Nagato really wanted to take over the world, he should have found some more competent help to keep her in place. Oh well! She wasn't really complaining as she picked her way through the woods.

Course, that was until she heard the telltale groan of the undead.

Megan shivered. The reason why she never left the house was because of these things, because she hated them with a passion and wished they would just die, which as it happened would not happen without some sharp shooting and luck. Neither of which she really possessed, which was a terrible combination as the zombies began to close in.

She could see them, their rotting flesh giving off a stench that was only fitting to their horrific appearances. As her breath rate increased and her sharp mind tried to pick out a plan to get out of there, she could hear more moans from far off.

Great. Just great. Chain reaction.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…" The girl groaned to herself, backing into a tree with a heavy 'thump' as ghouls swarmed her. There were ten… thirty… nearly sixty by a head count, and that was only the ones she could see. She knew there were more.

A list began to form in her mind of possible options, based on weaknesses and factual information that she knew. Fighting was out of the question—she had no weapon and definitely did not want to use her fists—and so was running, because it was obvious by the direction and volume of the unearthly wails that she was surrounded.

She knew they were slow, stupid, and not very coordinated.

Wait, hold on. She was surrounded by trees, and zombies couldn't climb… Well, neither could she, but at least she had a better shot than these undead suckers.

With a groan and some extraordinary effort she grasped a low branch, swinging on it to gain some leverage when she felt a sickening crack through her feet: they were here, and she had somehow managed to hit one with enough force to break its neck.

"Ewww…." Wriggling her leg to shake off a small female ghoul she somehow managed to get up, panting as she climbed higher and higher into the tree until she was out of reach of the mottled grey hands.

Megan reached up, grabbed a branch, and snapped it off. Alright, now just to wait until someone came by… They would leave eventually, right?

**- - -**

**August 8****th****, 12:41 AM**

**Classified Location, Unknown Territory**

**South Forest**

**- - -**

"Are you sure we shouldn't ask for directions?"

"And who do you propose we ask, Sakura? I was fairly certain that zombies cannot think nor speak, and there are not many humans apart from us."

"Smartass."

And that was the end of their seventeenth time she had called him that since they had left what Itachi had told her was the Senju Industries building. Not that she had really cared to know what it was, but she did know that Uchiha and Senju competed for business. If that was true, then why had they been in that building? She could not see the sense in that, but she was not going to whine or get them into another argument… Yet.

Her feet hurt, she was tired, and there were no zombies to be seen. Yes, this made for a great long walk as they searched for Megan, who was apparently traceable by Itachi's phone thinger. Yes, fantastic, because _he_ got service while her phone was utterly useless. He said it was because of a private satellite, but she said it was because he was a bastard that could manipulate anything he wanted to.

He had agreed this was true, but for some reason he couldn't get her to shut up.

A few choice words and glares later, they had been walking silently before she brought up the fact that she thought they were lost, and something told her that they were going to get in some serious trouble before they accomplished anything. And whenever she had a feeling like that, she was usually right.

Sakura heaved a heavy sigh before hearing the rush of water, her head perking as she stood still. The Uchiha looked at her oddly.

"What is it?"

"Water. I can hear it." With that she turned east, knowing for some reason that it would be a really good thing to get to that water. Their canteens were empty, after all.

"We don't have time for this, Sakura." The roseate raised a brow.

"Don't have time for water? What planet are _you_ living on?" She didn't even bother to stop as she continued along the path, ignoring his complaints. It was evident that she was still irked over the whole Konan incident, so he followed.

"Why are you still so upset over things?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What _things_?"

"What did Konan say to you, Sakura?" She was surprised at how soft his voice was, but said nothing as she neared the edge of the small pool that she knew had been there this whole time. "Just tell me. It cannot be so bad."

She snorted.

"Well you see, Itachi, I wasn't exactly aware of your whorishness before I kissed you, and I didn't quite appreciate being told by someone who apparently knows you real well about how you like to rope women in and then ditch them." Sakura paused to wash her hands, drying them on his pant leg. "And before you say it, no, I am not jealous."

He knew that was a lie, and laughed quietly. "You are jealous, aren't you?"

She scowled, and he knew he was spot on. "Why didn't you just ask for me, hm?"

"Because _I_ _don't want you_, you damn cocky asshole." Sakura stood, walking past him. "I wish you'd just keep in mind that we're _supposed_ to be on a mission."

"Since when do you care about it? " Oh, she was lying to herself, and she knew it as well as he. He knew she was not going to cooperate until she got the answers she wanted, and he was only too happy to give them to her. "Sakura, please…"

"_No._". She turned, her face red as she pushed him back a bit. "I don't want anything to do with you!"

Itachi sighed. "Sakura, you're a terrible liar."

"I AM NOT, THANK YOU, EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT LYING." There she went again with the loud-voice thing, even though she was indeed lying through her teeth just because she wanted her way.

He regarded her coolly, crossing his arms. "Sakura, we're not going anywhere until this is resolved."

The roseate scowled. "There's nothing _to_ resolve. Just because you think that you're some kinda gift to women doesn't make it true an—"

"You're a virgin."

Silence. Her face paled, verdant eyes widening. How did he know? She didn't really get time to reply before he answered her.

"I assume I am right," he drawled, uncrossing his arms, "because of your silence. You're probably getting jealous because after the world became undead you never came across someone who caught your interest, and then you met me."

Now her face was flushed, eyes narrowed, and hands clenched into fists. "That's a lie."

"No, the only lie I see is the one you're telling yourself."

He advanced on her, and instead of standing her ground she backed away from the look in his eyes—something dark and unfamiliar, but even as she retreated she grew angrier and angrier until finally she was backed into a tree.

"Let me go, Itachi."

"I'm not holding you. You're just standing there."

Oh, damn him. He was too close for her to move. "Then at least move."

The Uchiha shifted closer, a small smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes and parted her lips to tell him off, but she was cut off. "You were not specific."

"I know that." Sakura scowled, pushing hard on his chest to try and make him move. He didn't. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"Just to resolve things… This will never work if you hate me."

"Damn right I hate you!" The medic spat, her voice bitter. "You show up in my hospital like you're hot shit, tell me to kill a man I don't even know, disappear for months while the world went to hell, then finally show up one day and _capture_ me, lock me up in cell until I forcefully escape in which case you kiss me and then completely disarm me, tie me to a chair and THEN decide that "Oh hey, I need you for a mission" which I didn't sign up for, drag me out to the middle of nowhere in a car with no company but you, allow me to get captured, don't thank me when I find the clue, and then bring me along to some stupid meeting with one of your goddamn whores!"

He blinked. She made a fair point, even though in her own words he was indeed 'hot shit'.

"Not to mention your know-it-all attitude, your lack of emotion and the way you look at me like I'm something to eat! I'm not that easy, Itachi, and I never will be even if you're the last man on earth!"

Ouch.

Instead of yelling or fighting or even hurting her, he shook his head. "You haven't exactly been compliant, either."

"Maybe I would have been if you had just _asked_ me, but no! You're Uchiha Itachi, you don't stop for anyone and you always get what you want!"

Sakura was breathing heavily now, her face red in a way that was reminiscent of more physical activities that she would much rather engage him in. Of course he was so close, his eyes both dark in anger and that stupid look she couldn't quite place, making her get hot with just that.

Damn it, she wanted him to kiss her. Right now.

And he seemed to know it, too. "Then let's try something else. I give you what you want and then we'll see how things go." Damn it, he was so close… She could feel the sweet heat of his breath on her face, the brush of his nose against hers for the second time.

But instead of letting him kiss her, she pushed back as if she didn't want it. It was the furthest thing from her desires, and he would not allow it as he pressed forwards again before sealing his lips to hers.

It was far better than the last time. Her anger with him equated into passion, even though she would remain thoroughly pissed once they finally broke apart. She tried to bring her face away but she was craving the taste of his lips, and his hand on the back of her head kept her there against her very weak will. Her hands fisted in his shirt, biting the skin through the thin material as she pulled him closer to her so their bodies aligned. She felt his growl rather than hearing it, because she was far too busy at the moment.

His hands slid along her body once he was sure she would not move, tracing her ribcage, her waist and hips, and sliding down the length of her leg to elicit a shiver from the woman, who it seemed was immensely enjoying this. Not to say that he wasn't as well, because for someone who pissed him off more than bitter tea she was a great kisser. Her tongue ran the length of his lip and he was only to happy to oblige, parting his mouth to allow her to explore his mouth. A purr escaped him at the sinful twining of their tongues before he ground against her, a pleasured gasp leaving her lips.

So she had lied. Manwhore or not, she wanted him and she wanted him _bad._

It came as a disappointment to both of them when his cell phone gave a sharp 'blip', and he pulled away with a quiet groan to check what the hell it wanted.

What it wanted was a good thing, and he let go of the roseate without a second glance, picking up his things. "She is close. We must leave now."

"…Oh _hell no._" Itachi frowned.

"And why not?"

He nearly winced at her glower, watching as this time she crossed her arms. "After what just happened you just think you have the right to start bossing me around again?"

"Sakura, I—"

"I don't think so, Itachi." Sakura spat at his feet. "Fuck this. I'm leaving—you'll be able to find me if you actually care enough to bother."

And she stormed off, leaving him in the middle of the clearing. Alone.

It wasn't all bad… He knew she would return to him—who wouldn't?

**- - -**

**August 8****th****, 1:29 AM**

**Classified Location, Unknown Territory**

**Northwest Forest**

**- - -**

Damn it, her feet hurt. Bad.

Not to mention her feelings. Where did he think he got off, treating her like that? Like she was his, and always would be? Like she was his secretary who he liked to bend over his desk and—

Okay, so not going there. Sakura shook her head irritably, mumbling under her breath as she climbed over a fallen tree. It was a good thing she worse these boots or she probably would have skinned her knees, but they came in handy for other things, too, like crushing in zombie skulls and keeping her feet warm. It was just a bonus that they looked good, though fashion really was of no importance to her.

No, the only thing of importance was finding a way to chill. She was so tired of being high-strung and just angry, so she was currently trying to either find some zombies, a fellow survivor, or some kind of alcohol. That would definitely calm her down, but then again she was in the middle of nowhere without a compass.

So, muttering to herself, she thought on other things—fresh snow, people who were not Itachi, kittens, Itachi's head getting cut off by a falling razor shower, tempura… Yes, all those things were lovely, but what was that sound?

Sakura looked around. She swore that she could hear a motor running, and there was only one thing that could drive a car. Humans. Non-infected humans, and preferably someone she knew. Beggars couldn't be choosers, of course, but using her 'expert' hearing she managed to find the exhaust fumes and move to follow that.

When she found the vehicle it was obvious that there was someone inside—it was full of acidic smoke. The woman wrinkled her nose, but knocked on the car door regardless.

The door opened a crack and a rather familiar voice poured from the doorway. "You're obviously not dead, so get in here before all the smoke gets out."

She paused. Yes, she wanted company, but who was to say she wouldn't end up raped or murdered of undead?

Well, what did that matter? No one cared (including herself) and no one was around to change that, and something was telling her that she could trust the man in the foul-smelling car. The scent was oddly relaxing, actually…

"I said get in here, but if you don't wanna…"

Sakura stuck her arm in the crack. "No, I wanna."

There was silence as she climbed in, and that was when she realized who the hell she was sitting next to.

"Locke?"

"Sakura."

They blinked, both of their reactions slowed. Sakura felt her brain melt slowly as she inhaled the smoke, and he had known that it was her (who the hell has pink hair? No normal person, that's who) and thus let her in. Of course she was unaware that he had hotboxed the car, but didn't really mind it so much as it began to settle in and she relaxed.

"So, what's got your panties in a twist? You seemed pretty pissed."

She heard his voice, but it didn't register. "Huh?"

"Somethin' happen after you get caught?"

"Ohhhh, oh yeah." Sakura snorted. "I met Itachi."

Locke raised a brow, noting that she was growing buzzed rather quickly. This would more than likely turn into a good time, but the only way to find out was to speed up the process.

"Gonna tell me about that?" She watched as he took a drag from a overlarge cigarette, and it was then her brain clicked in.

What the hell. She needed to relax, right?

Reaching for it, she nodded. "It's a long story, but you, me, and our friend here have all eternity to talk about it."

**- - -**

One hour and twenty-six minutes later, Locke had somehow convinced Sakura that they should go hunting. Being high and in a car full of shotgun ammo she agreed, but bet him a hundred bucks she could kill more zombies than he, and so now they had driven back into Tokyo and were sitting on top of a low roof, drinking some long-sought after booze and laughing at stupid zombie jokes they were coming up with on the spot.

She knew she would regret this later, but Itachi had pissed her off so bad that this seemed the only way to soothe herself, and it wasn't like she would get addicted or anything. Seriously—she had tried it out in high school, and this was only the second time she had been on the stuff. She didn't like pot as much as Locke did, but that was kind of unimportant… She had already done it.

"Boom, headshot!" Sakura grinned, reloading. "Ten points, oh yes…"

"How many d'you got?"

"I…" They both stilled for a moment, ignoring the moaning and scratching on the wall not even five feet beneath their dangling legs. "I have no idea, man."

He shrugged, aiming at a zombie with no eyes or lower jaw. "Betcha I can get that one right in the throat."

"Betcha you can't," she took another swig from her bottle before firing off the shot he was going to take. "'cause I already did, sucka!"

Oh yes, good times… It was too bad they weren't alone.

**- - - **

**August 6****th****, 2:08 AM**

**Helicopter Cabin, Airborne**

**Residential Neighbourhood, Tokyo**

**- - -**

"Are you sure that's the one, yeah?" The blonde man gestured down at the pair sitting on the roof below them. "Because she doesn't look quite so… refined."

"Tobi thinks it will only make the job easier." "Tobi" chirped, grabbing the rope. "Now come on, sempai. We don't have all night—Itachi-san is getting close!"

"Sempai" (also known as Deidara) raised a fine blonde brow, glaring holes in his masked-partner's face. "If it's not, it's your ass, yeah."

The dark-haired man waved a non-committal hand. "I know, sempai, but I'm suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure it's her. You must be blind, sempai, because she's the only survivor we've seen with _pink hair._"

Of course Tobi was oblivious to his partner's murderous intentions despite the fact that while Deidara had looks that could kill he was far more capable with his genetically-modified hands, which at the current moment were spent smacking Tobi upside the head.

"Ow!"

"You're lucky I didn't do more, yeah. Now get the ropes."

"Ooh, kinky. Want me to tie you up or something?" Though Deidara could not see it, the childish man was wiggling his eyebrows beneath the mask. It seemed after a threat that cannot be printed was uttered he got the picture, though, and unhooked the ropes like nothing had happened.

The blond clipped the buckle into his belt. "Don't let me fall, yeah."

"I'm sure your fatness won't be too much for me to handle." Tobi said cheerfully, and before Deidara could respond he had been pushed from the helicopter.

Biting back the urge to yell he allowed himself to fall, keeping his eyes on the woman below. It seemed she was not alone, but that could be taken care of… He didn't even have to kill the other.

It took less than ten seconds before he could reach her, picking her up by the waist much to the surprise of the boy she was with.

"Found you, Sakura."

He smirked. This was too good to be true.

Little did he know that yes, that was indeed the case.

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 2:13 AM**

**Rooftop Safe Point**

**Residential Neighbourhood, Tokyo**

**- - -**

"What the hell!" This was not good. Definitely not good.

Locke had seen something in the sky but she had disregarded it, saying that he was just paranoid until out of nowhere a rather pretty blond male that looked awfully like Ino dropped from the sky and was suspended in front of her and called her by name as he lifted her.

God damn it. Didn't anyone ask anymore?

Apparently not, because despite her flailing and attempts to free herself he held her fast. "Who the hell're you anyway? First Itachi, now this? Answer me, damn it!"

"You've certainly got a mouth, yeah." Sakura heard his voice reply dryly before his grip tightened. "I'm here to keep you safe."

"Safe?" The roseate scoffed, elbowing him in the ribs and was rather pleased with the resulting grunt. "This is far from safe."

"If you'd sit still, it would be far safer, yeah." She could tell he was gritting his teeth. This one apparently had a temper. Ooh, scary.

"Yeaaaaaah, about that… Maybe if I trusted you I would, or had good reason, but dropping from the sky like something out of a bad action movie and snatching me away as if you own me seems like _not_ a good reason."

Deidara rolled his eyes. It was no wonder Itachi had left her on her own. He could deal with this—at least she was hot. That made the squirming and fighting not so unpleasant. "And if I gave you a good reason, yeah?"

"Then I might calm down." That was a lie—she was far too drunk and scared to really calm herself down. She watched as the rooftop grew smaller as they were hauled upwards, tears falling from verdant eyes. Yep, this was it: she was going to die.

Apparently not, however much she was nearly hoping for her own demise. Deidara handed her up to a man in a swirling orange mask (what was he, a lollipop?) before hauling himself up.

"Oooh, she's prettier than the boss said." Sakura blushed.

"Tobi, don't hit on the target, yeah."

"I'm not. If I were hitting on her, I'd—"

That sentence went unfinished, because before Tobi or Deidara could react the petite, seemingly-harmless woman had kicked the masked man so hard in the chin he literally hit the ceiling.

"OW! DEIDARA-SEMPAI, SHE HIT ME!"

Deidara was far too busy laughing, tears forming in his eyes at his partner's expense. "I can't… believe y-you got beat up… by such a little _girl_, yeah!"

The roseate found this nowhere near as amusing as the blond, and promptly folded her arms. "Well, this "little girl" has no problems with kicking your ass, either, so someone had better tell me what's going on here before I lose it."

Tobi only whined. Deidara help up a hand for her to wait, sobering himself before fixing his ice-blue (and rather pretty) gaze on her. "We're taking you to see the boss, yeah."

"And who's 'the boss'?"

"Leader doesn't want us to tell you, yeah. What we can tell you is what you've been dying to know."

Sakura scowled. "And what might that be?"

Deidara smirked. "Itachi's 'mission', yeah. Son of a bitch is trying to fix his mistake."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You mean…?"

"Yeah. What I'm trying to say is the world's condition is Itachi's fault."

* * *

**A/N: OH SNAP. Locke is bad.**

This chapter is UNBETA'D. Please don't get on me for spelling mistakes. D:


	8. VII: Take Me To Your Leader

**A/N: Extra long chapter this time: I apologize for the lateness. I do not own _Naruto_, nor do I own Shuhan Hisame (she belongs to Hypermaniac), or Locke, who belongs to himself.**

I'm looking for a beta, in case anyone is interested: just PM me._****_

* * *

_****_

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire… It burns it all clean.

* * *

_Now I know what you're thinking, and don't even say it. Being drunk and high doesn't do _that_ much to one's perceptive skills and I know it's wrong, but since we're in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and Itachi was being an asshat, I decided that I needed some way to relax. Poor Locke, though… I wonder how long it took him to find all that. Next time something like that happens (which I doubt will, because my head was killing me later and I had an insane desire to eat ridiculously fatty foods), I will be sure not to get myself that hyped up beforehand. Really impairs my judgement, y'know?_

_Regardless, I still understood what was happening when Deidara dropped like some kind of sugarplum fairy out of the sky and snatched me up. I knew that I was being kidnapped and I realized then that I probably should have stayed with Itachi, but it was far too late to correct that mistake. _

_Besides, this world was apparently _his _fault. I must say that I normally wouldn't judge someone that quickly based on one statement by my captors, but I was too angry and hurt to think otherwise._

_If only I had known that would be the worst mistake that I would ever make in this lifetime… And that perhaps it would be my last._

**- - -**

**August 8****th****, 1:03 AM**

**Classified Location, Unknown Territory**

**East Forest**

**- - -**

It was the end of the world. In most cases that should be a bad thing, but Itachi found it served as an excellent distraction for his current problems, which were all related to a currently M.I.A 'comrade' with pink hair a vicious temper.

Number one: she was gone. Number two: Because of her he could not find Megan. Number three: because of number two, he could not accomplish his mission.

And number four, the most troubling and bothersome of them all, was that she was mad at him.

Now, as a normally composed man and someone that could remain completely unfazed by even the most calamitous situations, this really did rub him the wrong way. The reason he was currently supplying himself with was the "I'm-in-charge-of-her-protection" reason, but in spite of that he knew it was something else. Was it that he actually held the tiniest bit of like for her?

She was a fascinating creature, he would admit: a delectable enigma and someone who was quick-witted and not just another snivelling damsel in distress. She was tough enough to tear a zombie to bits with her bare hands and would hardly blink in the face of one, but on the other side of the leaf she was soft and fragile and compassionate. Not to mention her features were completely unique—he had initially thought she had died her hair pink when he first met her years ago, but now that she was a grown woman there was no way she would have continued that. And besides, the stubble on her legs had been the same pale pink, nearly invisible against the porcelain skin of her legs.

The woman had filled out nicely, too, but that was just because he could be appreciative of a beautiful woman and remain entirely objective to her…

Or so he said. It seemed that the more he thought about her, the more pissed-off he became, because he was both worried for her due to the fact she was alone and that she had _rejected_ him. Him! Nobody had ever rejected Uchiha Itachi, and since it was the ultimate low to the world they had known he never expected it would happen now. Women normally adored him and he could easily have his pick, but those girls bored him constantly. Now this one… She was certainly different.

But that didn't matter. She was annoying and infuriating and hissed and spat at anything that didn't go her way, which meant that she was certainly not his type and was not worth his time despite the fact that he was only searching for Megan in order to find Sakura and therefore complete the mission. If he had known things would be such a mess he would have simply knocked her out and left her at home, but noooo… She had to come along.

Itachi sighed, trying to force all this goddamn worries out of his head and instead concentrate on driving. The car was soundproof so he couldn't really hear any zombies, but he knew that wherever the techie was she would be surrounded by them. Already having driven for an hour he hoped that he would catch a break and she would be alive and close by, or at least not surrounded.

It was then he saw a writhing mass in the trees, and rolled down a widow to get a better grasp on the situation.

"Urg! Fucking zombies! Get the hell away from me!"

High-pitched, slightly whiny, yet still fairly calm in the face of what looked like a horde of zombies. That was his girl, all right.

Slamming a leather-clad foot on the gas he sped into the crowd, swiftly rolling up the window before he made first contact with a zombie and sent it flying behind him. With a sickening crunch he made his way through the crowd, which had been forcefully parted to suit his interests.

They were crawling over the car, trying to get in. The Uchiha thought fast, knowing that he didn't have much time, and finally settled for opening the skylight and calling out.

"Megan! Jump down!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?! I'LL DIE!"

He rolled his eyes, and glared upwards. It seemed she literally heard the glare, and made a huffing noise. "Hold on, I'll calculate."

"I'm in position. Just drop."

The girl made a sound of impatience, the cried out. "I can't. I really, really can't, Itachi."

"You either jump or get eaten by zombies. Your choice." Not like jumping was much safer, actually, but he wasn't going to tell her that as he shot a ghoul off the roof of his car with deadly accuracy.

It took all of three seconds. There was a shuffle of fabric, the sound of shoes on wood, a scream, and then a thump, and the young, black-haired girl dropped onto the floor next to him, looking dazed.

"Ouch."

The Uchiha made a scoffing sound as he tore backwards, whipping the car around a speeding out of the oncoming zombies. The few clinging to his car were left in the dust as Megan struggled to buckle in, griping about how he sucked at driving and needed his license revoked.

When she finally settled in and they were going a decent pace back into the city, she looked over at him curiously. "So where're we going?"

"The lab."

"Why your lab? Mine's just fine."

"Because my technology it better and because I said so." Children were so difficult. To think he may have actually had them someday, ugh.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring his obvious distaste at her presence. "So what're we doing there, anyway?"

"Tracking."

"Tracking who?"

A line of worry etched itself in Itachi's brow. "One Haruno Sakura."

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 2:31 AM**

**Helicopter Cabin**

**Unknown Location, Tokyo**

**- - -**

"_Yeah. What I'm trying to say is the world's condition is Itachi's fault." _

The statement played over and over again in Sakura's mind, echoing around her fogged cranium as she tried her best to think of exactly what he meant. There was no way that he could turn an entire world into an undead haven, especially not on his own, and it just… It wasn't possible that someone could come up with a disease like that on such short notice.

But would it have been short notice? She could recall the day in the hospital—her birthday—and the one man with the bite. The patient bit the guard, and the guard had allegedly 'died', but then the next day the population seemed to have increased tenfold.

It was ridiculous. It was _impossible_.

Yet she believed it.

She swallowed hard, her throat uncomfortably tight and scratchy. The medic could see Tobi griping in pain from her earlier blow, and Deidara bent over to look at her in her now-kneeling position. Apple eyes were unfocused, temples pounding and causing terrible pressure on her brain. Gods, she needed to die.

"What…? Explain to me, please…" she said, her voice hollow and laced with disbelief.

"I can't, yeah. That's not my place—Leader said not to tell you too much before I—"

"---We!—"

"—brought you to headquarters," the blonde shot a look at the masked man, who it seemed was completely oblivious to his partner's rage.

And hers, too, apparently, because as he said that her world came back into focus.

"WHAT?!" Sakura roared, a remarkable vein beginning to pulse in her temple. "You capture me and tell me you're "taking me to your leader"—" Deidara winced at the geek jibe—"and yet you won't tell me anything? How is that fair! I have a right to know, damn it, because I don't have to go anywhere with you without some answers!"

There was a collective sigh from the two men. "If you wanna leave, Sakura-chan, you can go ahead and jump. Tobi doesn't recommend it, though."

"And why not?"

There was silence, and Sakura realized how stupid that must've sounded. "Oh, right. Zombies."

The chuckle that had formed in Tobi's throat was promptly stopped by a swift kick to the shin, courtesy of the blonde who thought pissing off their target was probably not a good idea, especially when she was heavily armed, drunk, and angry. She was grateful for it despite herself, and promptly plopped back down onto the floor, eliciting a shout from the unknown pilot.

In all honesty, Sakura really couldn't think of anything she'd rather do less than go meet their alleged "Leader"… Except maybe go and find the asshat to end all asshats, Itachi, but that went without saying. She briefly wondered what Locke thought the second she had disappeared, and that made her think back further to Naruto and Sasuke, then to Sachiko and the rest of the people that were sticking together in that old, abandoned police station. Of course she had left without notice and had gotten captured, but as she recalled Sachi had escaped with her when she had been… erm, 'taken down' by the suit-wearing Uchiha. Poor girl… She hoped that, for some reason, the redhead had found her way back to the station so she could see Naruto, whom it seemed she nursed a soft spot for.

A small smile graced her lips. It had been far too long since she had, it seemed, because her facial muscles were tight and unused to the simple action. Perhaps it was the way the world seemed—the nightmarish red sky, rubble and destruction, corpses walking the planet. It would be enough to make anyone go nuts, obviously, but what really surprised her is that there was still so much going on beneath what she _had_ known, and was just now pushed to the surface.

Not to mention she had been an absolute nobody until Itachi came along.

But the man had seemed familiar despite everything, and the dream she had was no coincidence, either. She had never been able to remember much of her childhood, just that her father was a scientist and her mother was very much deceased, having passed when she was seven. The roseate couldn't remember anything between the years of fourteen and eighteen to save her life, but she knew that her father had died at some point, too. No one had ever, _ever_ told her what happened to him, but she remembered that daily deposits of cash were made into her bank account, enough for her to live comfortably during university until she got a job. There was no account number for these transactions, and it had always baffled the young medic.

Sakura was sure that she should have delved further into this, but there had never been any real need to. So long as it wasn't harming her she had no reason to complain, right? Wrong.

She recalled the day when she had escaped from his prison, and the phone call that had mystified her.

_"Yes, I have her...I couldn't possibly... Her father said that—What do you mean, 'take her with you'? You know as well as I do that she wouldn't survive down there."_

There was no question that he had been talking about her, and her father's final wishes that she had never been informed of. How did Itachi know her father? Why did he have to drag her everywhere and why, _why_ was he so obsessed with her protection? It couldn't just be because she was one of the last females on earth, no, it was something else entirely. It wasn't love, either, because there was no way in hell and if he ever professed his undying love she would think he was speaking three bricks short of a load.

Regardless, there was something important going on here, and something that involved the Uchiha and herself directly. It seemed that no matter where she went she could just not escape trouble… Though she had no idea how right she was.

Out of nowhere she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to start and blink the last of those lingering thoughts to vanish. Sakura looked up to see Deidara, and behind him sky and ground and trees… And a run-down building with signs all around it that could not be read from where she was sitting.

"We're here, yeah. Grab your things and let's go/"

Normally she would protest, but she was bent on figuring out this mystery. Sakura rose, shouldered her pack and jumped out, following the effeminate male with hard eyes.

There was nothing she wouldn't do for the truth… Nothing.

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 3:22 AM**

**Main Road, West End**

**Downtown Tokyo**

**- - -**

"Fuuuuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" Sachiko was not happy. She was lost. "Should we stop and ask for directions?"

A rather grumpy-looking, black haired female merely grunted. "And who would we ask?"

"…Fair point." The redheads cheeks flushed slightly from asking such a childish question, and her partner merely smirked at the expression.

"It really can't be far. You'd think that they would know better than to move HQ to some police station across from the other one, but after Sasuke left the door open there was a huge outbreak." The dark-haired woman sighed, pulling her spiky ponytail tight. "But it can't be that hard. Kakashi wouldn't let Naruto do something so stupid."

"Hisame, sometimes I think that you're too calm for your own good." The explosives expert scowled slightly, and turned to drive along the main street again. "Now c'mon, look for this road."

"Yes, mother." Hisame's tone was dry and slightly amused, but she did what she was asked regardless.

"Damn right, woman." Sachiko huffed, turning her eyes back to the road just in time to slam on the brakes to prevent the car from being hit by another. There was a screech of tires as both horns blared, echoing around the cavernous space.

"I'M DRIVING HERE, DIPSHIT! WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Sachiko was hanging out the window and shaking her fist at the other driver, completely unaware that Hisame was trying to alert her to the fact that hey, it was a real person and don't piss them off we need directions!

"I WAS HERE FIRST, FIRECROTCH! NOW FUCKING _MOVE_, I'M LOOKING FOR SOMEONE!"

"OH HELL NO, YOU CAN'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! I SWEAR, I'M GONNA POP A CAP IN THAT FAT ASS OF YOURS!"

"BRING IT ON, BITCH!"

The black-haired woman sighed, unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of the car and kicked the door of the other car. "Hey, open up."

There was a pause in the yelling. It seemed that civility was the way to get things across. Hisame rolled her eyes. Amateurs.

"Hey, wait, you're not a zombie?" That was Sachiko. Oh, so now she gets it… Damn, that woman needed to take a chill pill.

It was then that the other voice quieted down and became more distinctly male. "Uh, yeah. What are you, blind?"

Once again the two were locked in angry tirade, and though Hisame was a very patient woman, this was complete bullshit. There was no reason two survivors should be at each other's throats like this.

But before she could open her mouth to speak another car came speeding around the corner that was a ridiculously obnoxious bright orange. The only calm one, being the navy-eyed woman, drew one weapon of choice—an Uzi 9 mm, which really was a useful tool—and blew out all four tires of the offending vehicle, promptly sending it right into the man's car.

"OKAY, THIS IS BULLSHIT. YOU RUINED MY CAR!" The man finally left the car, and said man turned out to be a teenager—an American one at that, reeking of something bitter and was armed with a variety of weapons.

"YOUR CAR'S RUINED? MINE HAS NO GODDAMN TIRES!" Next out was a blonde with hair like the sun, which drew Sachiko's attention like a magnet and sent her flying into the blonde's arm's with an audible squee.

"Naruto! I thought I'd never see you again!"

With a barely there sigh of exasperation Hisame sat on the hood of her car, face calm but still holding a note of suppressed rage, which was leaking out into the surrounding air and was, despite how potent it was, being very much ignored by the embracing blonde and redhead, who were blabbering about… well, whatever it was they were blabbing about.

"Wait, Naruto? I think I've heard of you before." The American—or Canadian, rather, because the patch on his jacket was of the maple flag—scratched his chin, thinking hard.

"Who hasn't heard of me?" Naruto slipped out of the girl's grasp to strike a manly pose, earning a sharp swat from his friend. "Ouch, Sachi, that was mean."

"No, I mean seriously. Sakura told me about you," the boy rolled his eyes. "She said you saved her."

Naruto perked up at the mention of the roseate and quickly moved over to lean awfully close to the other male. "What'd she talk about? How hot I was? How she wants my boo-dy?"

"No, again, and get away from me."

That elicited a snort from both women, but they were still ignored despite that until Sachiko spoke up again.

"How do you know her? And do you know where she is?" The woman frowned, crossing her arms. "She and I escaped from that bastard Itachi's hold and went to go scare him, and then she disappeared into his office and never came back. I eventually had to leave—there were people coming."

"Oh, so you're Sachiko? I've heard of you and your impromptu bomb work." He inclined his head politely. "I'm Locke, nice t'meetcha."

"Sakura told me about you. You saved her ass from the Tentacle Rape Monster." The woman grinned, and Naruto and the darker woman both blinked in unison.

"Tentacle Rape Monster…?" Naruto asked tentatively, looking rather revolted.

"Long story." Sachiko waved a hand dismissively. "So where is that slowpoke, anyway?"

The brown-haired male shrugged. "I don't know… She was hanging out with me and talking about how Itachi was being a total dick, and then this… helicopter dropped from the sky, and this blond guy with a ponytail dropped down and snatched her up."

Everyone was silent, but Hisame was the first to break it.

"Do you know which direction it went in?" Locke nodded.

"Yeah. I was following it, actually, but I know the general direction."

"If she was with Itachi, then it can't be a good thing," the blonde male said darkly, crossing his arms. "We need to go get her."

"Agreed." Sachiko nodded, and there was a general murmur of concurrence among them.

"So it's settled: we follow." Naruto stood, and grinned almost sheepishly.

"Now, what does everyone think of helping me repair my baby?"

**- - -**

**August 6****th****, 5:01 AM**

**Shower Room, Abandoned Asylum**

**Unknown Location, Outside Tokyo**

**- - -**

Sakura was confused, and tired.

She could remember getting off the helicopter, and she could remember coming into the building, clutching Deidara's arm for dear life because her equilibrium was off. He led her through the halls, talking in placid tones to her and rather loud, angry ones to Tobi. The medic creased her brow as her skull pounded. It felt like someone had jammed a porcupine in their and it was taking out its rage on her poor, fleshy brain.

So after the unprepared tour she was led to a big, dark room, full of shadowy figures of varying heights and girth. A single pair of ringed eyes bored into hers, and she felt truly apprehensive for the first time since this whole 'war' began. The look had terrified her and the meeting was just as unnerving, and she remembered it clearly…

**- - -**

_The woman looked around the darkness, squinting to try and see everything more clearly. There were no windows in here, it seemed, but she could see the barely-there outlines of eight people. No one spoke or made a sound, including Sakura. She stood in silence until finally, someone broke it. _

"_Haruno Sakura. Finally, we have you alone." _

_Sakura frowned, creasing her brow. "Uh, yeah. That happens when you kidnap someone." _

_There was a titter of soft, dark laughter. A shiver ran down her spine... This could not be a good thing. _

"_Well, if you had not been so elusive and unsociable, perhaps things would have been easier." It was a woman's voice this time, and jade orbs narrowed. Oh hell no, she knew _that_ voice. _

"_Maybe if you weren't such a cock-sucking whore, Konan, things would have gone better." Sakura's tone was cool; a soft snort escaped the other woman's lips._

"I'm _the whore? I'm not the one following Itachi like some schoolgirl." _

_The roseate's face flushed a lovely red, though no one could see it. The air was tense, but still, no one said anything that would stop the two women. "I was not following Itachi, thank you. He needed me, or so he said."  
_

_There was a laugh from her left, and she saw the glint of pointy teeth. "What's so funny?"_

"_Nothing, nothing." The man sounded amused, and rather tall by how deep his voice was. For some reason it also sounded like he thought the whole situation a joke, what with his tone laughing and almost taunting. "I've just never known Itachi to _need_ anyone."_

"_Come on, Kisame. 's not like he was nice anyway, yeah." That was Deidara, and she could feel Tobi's furious nods of agreement from where he was on her opposite side, still holding her arm tightly. _

"_I'm not sayin' he was nice, but he was independent. Totally antisocial."_

"_Can we stop this conversation, please? There is more important business to attend to." it was the first man, the one with the ringed eyes. It seemed he was the leader, because there were mutters of 'yes sir' and 'sorry' from the ones who had been talking. Sakura, however, was unfazed. _

"_No, no we can't." Her defiance surprised everyone, and the room was dead quiet. "I want to know who Itachi is, who _you_ freaks are, and why the hell everyone seems to be after me. I'm not that important, and I'm not that great. There has to be a reason as to why I'm here and someone else isn't."_

_Her last words echoed in the din, and that was when she began to feel uncomfortable. Damn it, why couldn't she just keep her big mouth shut?_

_She was so sure that they would kill her on the spot, but instead there was laughter from all around. "You want to know the truth?" It sounded like the man was smirking. "Then we shall tell you the truth... but you must comply with our wishes."_

_Sakura bit her lip and hesitated. _

_If she accepted, she would know the truth, right? But then she'd have to do something for them, and they weren't exactly the most savoury group of people... But then again, they might not make her do something terrible. It wasn't like she couldn't really run if she wanted to or anything, and if Itachi wanted her that bad he always somehow managed to find her. It seemed she had reached a conclusion. _

"_I accept your terms. Now tell me what the hell is happening." _

_In the dark, the man smirked. _

"_As you wish."_

**- - -**

They had told her, she remembered. That wasn't to say that she was happy with the story or how it was told, uninterrupted and ridiculously short, leaving her no time to ask questions or really discern between the different parts before they explained their part of the deal.

Of course she hadn't been listening during that. No, she had instead been replaying the story in her head, trying to fill in the blanks and make sense of it all. Now, she knew that some of it had to have been true, but there were too many holes to mean that the whole thing were true… She was, of course, pissed off beyond belief with the elder Uchiha and wanted nothing to do with him, but that didn't mean that she would take the story without question.

Nor did that mean, however, she was going to tag along with him if he came and saved her ass.

Speaking of which, where the hell was she? Verdant eyes opened and immediately shut again with a groan: the bright lights were murder on her retinas, especially since they were reflecting off the tile around her. This time she would look down, and as she did so, she realized that floor was tiled, too, and it was rather grimy.

Sakura grimaced and sat up, rubbing her temples and tryied to remember how she got in this room.

After 'Leader' (Sakura didn't know his name, nor did she really want to) finished the story, he whispered something to Konan, who laughed and relayed the message to Deidara. The blond didn't seem pleased by the order but nodded, and she remembered him guiding her from the room.

"_Where are we going?"_ she had asked, and he simply shook his head. That was when she dug in her heels and said something rather offensive and he shot her the dirtiest look that she had ever seen, then she returned it, and he said that if she wasn't going to cooperate she was going to have to be forced.

Being stupid and defiant she said 'make me' or something similar—she couldn't remember—and so Deidara had picked her up and carried her into this room and dumped her on the floor. She recalled her back cracking before her skull hit, letting out a gasp of pain before the world began to swirl in a blur of colour as consciousness left her.

The man had said something to her that sounded close to an apology, but she was sure it had been sarcastic. _Bastard_, Sakura though irritably, wincing as her cracked ribs creaked and brought sharp pains to her chest. One would think they'd be treated better if they were so sought after, and someone went to so much trouble just to capture them alive.

Muttering and looking around, the medic realized that she was in what looked like a communal shower room. Well, that made sense, considering that their base was in an abandoned asylum (cliché much?), but wouldn't they have put her in a patient's room or something if they really wanted to keep her safe? That's what she would have done.

But as she studied the room further, it became apparent that the pipes that should have been going into the floor were connected to something else… They were going out a window instead. She could hear voices coming from outside, and the sound of keys.

Sakura's heart began to race, a sickening feeling curling in the pit of her stomach as she tried to rationalize an answer. There was only one reason they'd put her in a room like this.

That meant she needed to escape. Her eyes scanned the walls and formulated, calculating three windows apart from the one the pipes (hoses, she could see in better focus now) were leading out of. She stood on shaky legs and looked through the window, and only saw two men—one with silver hair and violet eyes, and one with dark skin and was covered in scars.

Their conversation was highly unpleasant and she didn't really want to hear it, the only snippet that she actually heard came from the pale man and was "Hey Kakazu, think Leader'll let us keep the bitches' body?"

She shuddered and peered through more windows, noticing that there was one where she would only have to drop four feet: the building was on uneven ground, meaning it would make an easy escape.

Slender fingers tried to pry open the window to no avail, and when the engine outside started and a low hiss began to fill the room panic set in.

Her vision grew hazy as the room did, the gas choking the breath out of her and making her thoughts break up. Out, out… She needed to get out of this place.

Instead of screaming she held her breath, pulling her shirt up over her nose and tried to wrench a showerhead off the wall. Screws creaked beneath the pressure, and she knew she was onto something when one popped out.

'_C'mon, c'mon… I really, really don't want to die today.'_ Sakura thought brokenly, repeating the lines in her head. With one great heave and a groan of old metal it sprang from the wall, and she let out a low hiss of pleasure as she dragged it to the window.

It was a lot heavier than she initially thought, but she attributed that to the fact she was running out of oxygen and was probably going to die even if she _did_ get out. The though was depressing and she tried to fight the tears that threatened to fall, but it was to no avail. Her cheeks were soon hot with tears as she raised the metal head, bringing it down hard on the window.

There was a crack, but it didn't break. Again and again she hit the window, but her blows soon grew weaker and weaker as her vision faded, life leaving her.

Through her foggy vision, though, she saw a shock of red hair through the window, and she briefly thought that perhaps she was going to Hell. It didn't make any sense for her to, though, because she was a good girl—she had only killed because she had to, not because she wanted to. That didn't warrant eternal torture, did it?

That thought was interrupted as the blaze spoke, pale skin and green eyes swimming into focus. The voice was muffled by the glass, and all she caught was 'down' and 'all right'.

Her mind got the message without telling her, and she slumped to the floor just as the window imploded. She thought she heard herself scream but couldn't feel it: instead all she felt was a feeling of being lifted.

Soon enough she was surrounded by fresh air and her breath came in gasps, mind clearing as she glanced around her. There were sounds of voices, some familiar, some not. She could see people surrounding her, the feeling giving her minute claustrophobia.

"Back off, damn it." Sakura mumbled through numb lips, and she heard a calm, cool voice repeat the warning as a woman with black hair bent over her.

"Sakura, my name is Hisame… Sachi and Ino are here, too, and we're going to help you, okay?" The medic nodded slowly, creasing her brow in confusion.

"How..?"

"Locke led the way. Bastard almost crushed me." Ah, she knew that voice, and her suspicions were only confirmed when spiky blond hair and blue eyes came into focus.

"Oh shut up. You shouldn't drive like a retard." Sakura knew that one too.

"Locke?"

"You should stop talking, woman. This one says you're gonna die if you don't STFU."

Sakura scowled, but shut up. She felt rather sleepy and light-headed, and was not at all paying attention to the conversation going on around her. Before her eyes shut, however, she caught a glimpse of a man and a small girl get out of a car, and anger surged through her.

"Sakura."

The voice was curt and formal, sounding rather strained despite the fact he was supposed to be completely composed. Oh, how she hated this man.

"Itachi."

Her retort made the crowd turn, none of them pleased.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" That was Sachiko, who had drawn a weapon. The roseate would have done the same but Ino was on her, hissing instructions for her to lie still.

"I need Sakura. She is supposed to be coming with me." Of course he was placid. Angry insults and 'hell no's' were tossed his way, but they seemed to bounce off the impassive man. He pushed past the crowd (with much difficulty, she could see clearly now despite her rage) to come near her, but she pushed herself back.

"Get the fuck away from me." Sakura spat, her voice hoarse and trembling with rage. He bent onto his knees to get closer to her but she only stared, pushing him away weakly. "I mean it! I know what you did, you family-killing bastard!"

A ringing silence filled the clearing.

"Do you, now." Itachi's tone was muted, barely heard over the sound of the engines idling behind them. It felt like no one else in the world was around, and Sakura would have liked it to be that way, but it wasn't.

"I do. You… You started this," she croaked, face contorted with pain and rage. "You let loose the virus. You were the one that set that man loose… Sent him to my hospital! It was my birthday, damn it, and you knew it!"

He said nothing, only watched as tears ran down her face. "I _hate_ you. You killed your family, you killed this world, you killed my father… You took everything.

"Now leave, or I'm going to kill you." Sakura finished, tone finally cold and firm. Everyone seemed to be stunned by what had just happened, but it was Naruto who reaffirmed her request.

"You heard her, Uchiha," he growled, pressing his weapon against the elder man's temple. "Now get the fuck outta here."

Itachi let out a soft note of laughter, but it sounded almost sad in comparison to his usual condescending tone. "As you wish… But I will find you, and we will find out what really happened."

The roseate's brow creased against her will, and she watched as he walked to his car, got back in, and drove off. That was… far, far too easy.

"Now, we need to get you out of here." Ino's slightly whiny voice broke the din, and she nodded at Naruto, who lifted Sakura's tired body off the ground. "You'll be okay, but you won't be running any marathons for quite some time."

She only nodded, eyes drooping as she nodded off. "Yess'm… Just tell me when we get there."

And with that she was asleep, dreams filled with nothing but the expression on the Uchiha's face and the single tear she saw him shed as he walked out of her life.

* * *

**A/N: ONOZ, GAIZ. I apologize to those who have been waiting on this chapter. x.x It's been hard for me to update because of school but I'm pretty sure that will be no issue now.**

Poor Itachi, though. So misunderstood.

Reviews are welcome, though not required. -heart-


	9. VIII: The Means to an End

_**One - you can't make me feel this way;**_

_**Two-you won't make me run away;**_

_**You can't understand my chemistry, **_

_**So laugh—it makes me ordinary.**_

_-'Ordinary' – Thousand Foot Krutch_

* * *

_Man, you have no idea how happy I was to see the guys. Seriously, I thought I was going to die and lose everything, and though it was better than getting infected I really wasn't ready for it. I wasn't ready to fester and mould below ground: I was a virgin, for one, I hadn't kicked Itachi's ass yet, and I still didn't know the whole truth. As pissed as I was at the Uchiha I really wanted to know his story._

_But I didn't think he'd come back this time. The look on his face was something I never, ever thought I'd see—a single tear still counts for crying, and it was because of me._

_For someone who had killed his family in cold blood _and _everyone who worked for the company (including my father) it just didn't seem right for him to be doing such a thing. There was no reason he should feel anything about what I had said… He was cold, impassive, someone who could kill and not look twice. _

_At the time I didn't think I was wrong in calling him out and degrading him like that, but now that I think about it, it was truly unfair. I'm supposed to be non-judgemental and keep my opinion to myself, but when I was stressed and nearly dead from exhaustion and carbon monoxide (thaaaaanks, Deidara, wherever you are) it was a lot harder than it sounded. _

_I wanted make things right. I really did. _

_But I didn't. Why? I was stuck in bed, for one, and I didn't know where he could be. I only knew that Akatsuki (as I later found out the group of nine was called) would be after my ass and that I needed to stay safe, and staying safe meant not being alone and staying hidden. Though they had told me about Itachi I still didn't understand my place—I was Haruno Sakura, medic and zombie killer. Nothing more, nothing less. I had pink hair and no family and liked tempura, and had lived in a small yellow house in the woods as a child. _

_What could I possibly know? Was there something hidden in the darkness of my mind?_

_All my life I had never been able to fill in some of the holes of my childhood, but now it seemed they were being brought to light. I could honestly say that I thought it would be the death of me, but I knew that if I was going to die I was at least going to find out the truth._

_The whole truth this time, and not some half-assed excuse…_

_And to do that I needed to find Itachi._

**August 6th, 6:22 AM**

**Single-lane Road, Forest**

**Unknown Location, Entering Tokyo**

"Itachi, are you okay?"

Those four words were the first spoken in hours, and ones that he had wanted to hear badly, though he would never tell a soul.

"Of course."

His reply was curt, emotionless, but entirely false. What the woman had said to him hurt more than anyone knew, because no one knew what he had done. No one knew what he had been through and the crushing guilt that followed him every day since it began. He always played the part of the perfect criminal, delegating where it was needed, erasing someone from memory when they got in the way, taking care of loose ends when they threatened to fray the fabric of this so-called 'reality'.

Megan knew there was something wrong with him, but nodded quietly and leaned her head on her hand again. There was no reason that he would shed a tear if it was nothing, but he denied to the death that it had happened. There was something going on between him and the pink-haired woman, something deep and one-sided.

"D'you wanna talk about it?"

"There is nothing to talk about. She is nothing to me."

"… I never said it was about her, did I?" The girl smiled slightly, and knew she was onto something. "But you seemed to know just what I'm talking about."

The Uchiha sighed. "It's nothing. Really. She is simply the means to an end."

"Do you really think that?"

"I do." She heard his voice tighten. "We've arrived."

It was Megan's turn to sigh. He was always so closed-off, never wanting to talk about anything. She may be his third cousin and someone who visited on a regular basis to cause trouble for him but she still had a feeling that this was not going to end well. Any of it. It was lucky that she had been on holiday with her parents when he massacred the Uchiha, because if she were visiting she may have just ended up dead.

Both of them knew better, though. When they had returned he was done with her mother and father as well, but not her. She was indispensable and would help in the future, he said, because she knew computers and the workings of the industry. It had been hard to get over everything but she hadn't refused, instead choosing to follow something higher and trying to fix what everyone said he caused.

She didn't believe it, not for a second. It had never made sense—she had seen him with his brother before, and he was a kind, gentle man then. There was no way that had been an act.

But she didn't argue, simply grabbed her small bag and got out of the car, stepping into the cold, empty lot that she had been in so many times before. He remained impassive as they went up six floors, walked through three-point-four hallways, and stopped before the twelfth door on her left, which led into the large, computer-filled room.

"She is wearing the tag. I need you to find her location and tell it to me, and then work on disabling the security at the base." That was just like him, making a request sound like an order. The young girl nodded, and sat at a computer.

"You're not just working with her because she was around, are you?" Megan's voice was distorted as she spun in the chair, watching his expression for any sort of change.

There was none. "No, I am not. It was an order."

"An order? From who?"

"Her father."

"Didn't you kill him?" His brow creased.

"That was an order as well."

"From Akatsuki?"

"No, from him," he turned and headed to the door. "I'm locking you in. You know my number and where the food is: tell me if anything comes up."

With that he was gone; leaving her alone in a room that was beeping and humming. She sighed and set to work, hoping that once she found this girl everything would get better. It was vital.

Well, that and she needed to save the world.

She sighed, sat and set to work, hoping to whatever the hell was up there that everything would be okay and that they had time before Akatsuki made its next move.

**August 6th, 12:48 PM**

**Room Twelve, Abandoned Hotel**

**Eastern Downtown, Tokyo **

"_Irete! Chodaiii…!_"

"I have no idea what you just said, but you got it."

If it hadn't been the end of the world one probably would think that a situation such as this was not something that should be happening. Two strangers who are _not_ drunk (just to state fact) getting together through language barriers and grief that surrounded this world. Of course it sounds profound when it is said like that, but when you really think about two foreigners walking into an abandoned hotel to screw it doesn't sound so great.

Especially not when one of them was supposed to be working and the other… well, the other was just a female that happened to trump the odds and find herself still alive after all this time. Twenty-year-old Alden currently wasn't thinking about that—in fact, all he was thinking about was how he hoped he could finish without getting himself fucked up in a not-so-great way.

Their harsh breath filled the air, the smell alerting just about every zombie within a mile to them and neither of them noticed it—it would take time for the ghouls to find their way over here, let alone get past the barricade.

He could feel her coming to an end beneath him and moved faster within her, but just before he could get his release, the phone rang.

Now, normally he would just ignore this phone call and continue with what he was doing, but it was a special ring tone that told him that it was the boss calling. One did not ignore the boss under any circumstance, and as good as this felt, it would not feel so good when the boss's right hand woman cut off his balls and made them into a smoothie.

So, ignoring the girl's (and his own inner) protests he pulled out and reached for the phone, "Hey."

"_Where are you? You were supposed to meet your partner an hour ago."_

"Well you see, I happened to come across an opportunity I couldn't pass up, and I—"

"_No more excuses! I want you at the meeting point pronto. If you're not there within twenty minutes, you're finished."_

Al sighed, and nodded against the phone. "Yessir. Twenty minutes."

There was no goodbye, only the dull buzz of the dial tone. He could see his partner pouting and spouting something in Japanese, but it was either get'r done or lose his head. Both of them.

It wasn't really any question—the tone of the boss's voice had ruined the mood and his libido, and therefore he didn't really care about finishing her. It was the end of the world: they were all used to disappointment.

So instead he smiled at the girl as he headed to the door, and gave her a cheeky two-finger salute. "See ya around, babe."

He heard the gunshots follow him and merely chuckled, leaving the door unlocked. It was her fault if she got zombified now—he wasn't going to help anyone that tried to kill him. He had a job to do.

It was a good thirty-four minutes later when he arrived at where his partner was supposed to be, and was honestly surprised to find a young-ish looking-kid with green hair slouching against a wall looking upwards, apparently counting clouds. Al stopped to observe for a second before approaching the guy, knowing full well as there wasn't anyone else around that this guy was his partner.

"Yo. Kid." Said kid looked up and blinked, surprised.

"You showed! You're fourteen minutes late, you know." The greenette pouted, and the older of the two simply rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, so? I had business to attend to."

"This _is_ business, dude. You know they'll kill us if we don't do our job." Al nodded slowly, knowing that their said 'employers' would indeed destroy them should something go awry.

"Yeah… Anyway, I'm Al." He extended a hand, which the other boy took and shook exuberantly. Al could hardly believe how cheery this kid was, and pulled his hand away accordingly.

"I'm Kouken Toratetsu, eighteen, and I really think we should go now. Seriously."

"Why?" The other boy just looked at him with an expression that screamed 'really?'

"The boss gave the order for me to kill you on sight and I don't think he'd be too happy to know I didn't. Now c'mon, tardy boy, we've gotta go meet the cavalry."

**August 6th, 10:09 AM**

**Conference Room, Abandoned Asylum**

**Unknown Location, Outside Tokyo**

"Nagato, we have a problem."

The redheaded man looked up with a poisonous expression at his blue-haired lover, but said nothing. He knew full well that last time Konan had came in and said that there had indeed been a problem: their hostage had escaped. This time, however, he got the feeling that this was something that would really, really piss him off.

Said lover/bringer of bad news sighed. "Haruno Sakura's body is not in the gas chamber."

"… I'm sorry, what?"

"I said that—"

"I know what you said." His voice was deadly quiet, and Konan knew him far too well because she assumed he wouldn't hurt her, but rather the two that had messed this up. "But what do you mean her body is not in there? One doesn't live through something like that, and there's no way anyone would have come to save her. Hidan and Kakuzu would have known."

"Apparently not, because they opened the door and her corpse wasn't there: the window was smashed open and there were tire tracks outside the window."

Nagato's eyebrow twitched, and the woman fought the urge to back off before he broke something. "Send them in."

"Hidan and Kakuzu?"

"Yes. Now."

With a mumbled 'yessir' she vanished, shoving two men in through the door: the one with white hair, violet eyes and apparently no shirt was cussing, and the other who looked as if he had been seriously fucked up with scars crossing over his dark, papery skin and the strangest eyes ever, and was ridiculously silent.

"What the fuck? I'm gonna sacrifice your fatass body to Jashin, seriously, bitch."

"Hidan, shut up. Now."

"Fuck you, Kakuzu! I don't give a shit about you or what you fucking think!" It soon became apparent to the two that the boss was not happy. Not happy in the slightest, but Hidan, being tactless, continued talking. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

"You two failed the easiest mission I have ever given out." Kakuzu grunted, which sounded something an awful lot like 'his fault' but once again, the ring-eyed man took to ignoring the two. "Our target wasn't eliminated."

"Like we fucking didn't know that," the white-haired man griped, crossing his arms. "Bitch must've gotten out the window or some shit, because she didn't come out the doors."

"Did you see anyone take her?"

Kakuzu replied this time. "No sir. We simply went to retrieve the body—Hidan wanted to _see_ it before we handed it over."

"Oh fuck your shit, Kakuzu, seriously. One of these days I'll fucking kill you."

"Bring it on, pretty boy." The reply was dark, but Hidan's comment was silenced by the sound of a throat being cleared.

"As you two are evidently incompetent, I have called in someone else. Now, since it's basically foolproof—"

"Who'd you call?"

Nagato sighed patiently. "Team six. Now—"

"With that whiny bitch of a kid with the green hair?" Hidan scoffed. "His partner's batshit crazy and will fucking walk off without warning, seriously. You should call someone else."

"Are you patronizing me, Hidan?" Nagato asked, his tone remarkably even despite the vein threatening to pound in his temple.

"Fuck no, I'm not that stupid. I'm just sayin'."

"Then who do you suggest I send? _You_?"

There was a knock at the door before a shorter man entered, heterochromatic eyes glancing at the pair. "Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but overhear your dilemma."

"Jukai." Nagato nodded politely, ignoring the 'tch' from the other light-haired man in the room.

"Leader." The gesture was returned, a slow, dark smile crossing his face as a hand ran through his frosted hair. "As I said, I think I can help."

"Oh? Please explain," he leaned forwards, dismissing Hidan and Kakuzu with a flick of his wrist and ignoring their parting comments.

As Jukai revealed his plan the older man's face split into a wide grin, finally crossing his arms behind his head out of satisfaction.

"Sounds like an idea… Now call team six. You leave immediately…

"And don't let anyone fuck up this time."

**August 7th, 12:07 PM**

**Office 309, Tokyo Police Force Main Headquarters**

**Western Side, Downtown Tokyo**

Sitting in bed sucked. Feeling like you can't breathe sucked. Wanting to get up and walk around and not being able to sucked about as much as the first, which was pretty much the same thing and certainly did nothing to assure Sakura that she was not going insane.

Insane from bed rest, that is. She recalled nearly being gassed by a couple of guys that looked nuts because their leader (whom was known as "Leader" and only that) told them that she was a threat or some crazy shit like that. It was ridiculous. It was stupid. It was the weirdest thing she had ever heard in her life and now that she kind of had some answers and knew where to go, she wasn't allowed because Ino told her she couldn't go. Please. The carbon monoxide didn't kill her and it would totally be out of her system or something—one near-death experience didn't mean that she couldn't handle herself. She was a big girl, after all, shooting her own guns and everything.

That wasn't to say she wasn't' enjoying being pampered, especially when it was Sasuke receiving brunt end of the torture as he had crushed his trigger finger in a door and was now almost as useless as a paperweight or a fat check, and that made good times for the pink-haired medic. Sasuke (or Saucy, or Sasskay, or Saucecake, or Duckbutt—she had so many names for him) was not so amused, however, after the fourth bottle of water he was sent to fetch her.

"I'm not your maid, you know," he said as he tossed the bottle at her, causing the roseate to stick out her lower lip and pout in a way that had worked on nearly all the guys within the base. It seemed, however, that he was impervious and would rather ignore it. "Seriously. How did you get yourself so messed up anyway?"

"I didn't do it to myself, Saucy." Sakura scowled. "I told you that your dick of a brother ditched me, I ran into Locke, we got messed up and then I was captured by Deidara, who took me to that freaky asylum."

She shuddered for dramatic effect, but it was lost on him. Damn it, he was an asshat, just like his brother. "So you walked away from Itachi, then, right?"

Sakura blinked, and stared at him. "What makes you say that?"

"He doesn't just 'walk off''," he said, crossing his arms with a dark expression. "He finishes things."

"Like your family?" Sasuke ignored her dry tone and simply nodded, but she could see the anger behind his dark eyes. "I was—and still am—sorry to hear he did something like that. How did you find out?"

"I was there."

"You were? What?" Well, that was a shocker. No wonder Sasuke hated his brother so much.

The young man nodded and sat on the side of her bed, and she pulled up her legs to accommodate him with an almost eager expression. "Yeah. I know he never planned that I'd be there, but when we were young… something happened."

He looked haunted but she remained silent, wordlessly encouraging him to continue.

"When I was six, he killed them. Mother, father… All our relatives. Everyone." The medic's brow creased as she bit her lip.

"How did he get away with it, though? That just doesn't seem possible…"

"Cover up," he said simply, shrugging. "I was already a trouble child and he was a star, and when he was discovered with the weapons he just… denied it. I _saw_ him there… I couldn't understand why he would do it. He had always been… kind to me. Perfect. Everything I wanted."

Sakura nodded. She knew what a great actor he was. "And he just… snapped?"

"I guess… Something about 'measuring his capacity." Sasuke frowned. "Now that I'm older I don't believe he did it alone. There were too many of them and only one of him, so…"

"…So you think he had an accomplice?"

"Yeah. I'll still hate him, though… I'm going to kill him if I ever see him again." That certainly came as a surprise, yet it was predictable at the same time. She could see why he hated his brother so much yet she never would have thought Itachi would do such a thing. He was so soft, didn't like to kill—not even zombies, and they were already dead—nor did he really try to hurt her. Ever.

"I see," she murmured, shifting the blankets closer to herself. "Thanks for telling me this, you know."

"Hn." Sakura smiled anyway, and tossed a pillow at him.

"Out, Saucy. I need my beauty sleep."

The Uchiha shrugged. "Well, Sachiko and Hisame want to see you anyway. I'll send them in."

"Seriously? All they're going to do is argue," her tone was dry though she did know better: she knew the redhead was probably worried beyond belief and the other one… well, she didn't know her very well, so could have her totally wrong. "But fine. I could do with some cheer."

Sakura's implied insult was not lost on the male, and he rolled his eyes, pushing open the door to let in said two visitors.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" The medic nodded as Sachiko bounded over, though was held back by a rather pretty black-haired woman.

"No glomping, Sachi. That's bad."

"Nah, it's okay. I'm used to it," she smiled, and patted the spot on her bed Sasuke had just vacated. "Besides, the three of us have some talking to do."

The other women nodded and sat after closing the door, and Sakura lowered her voice to prevent being heard. "As you can see, I'm feeling fine now, but there's something up with Itachi."

"I thought Itachi was the bad guy?" Hisame nodded in agreement to Sachi's comment, but Sakura held up a hand.

"Yeah, so he's been painted as the bad guy. He killed his family and stole me away, has done things against us and captured us and whatnot, but it doesn't make sense. I need clarification. The tales of what he's done just… don't match up with who he is," she pleaded with her eyes, hoping they'd understand. "Really. I'm not saying I like the guy, but it's not fair to let him suffer like this and… apparently he needs my help."

With her conclusion there was a moment of silence, but as usual, Hisame broke it.

"With what, Sakura? A man like that doesn't ask for help with nothing."

She fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment. "He… didn't say. Something about making things right."

"But you're not allowed out of this room anyway."

'_Way to state the obvious, Sachiko,'_ Sakura thought, but only sighed and raised a brow with a very, very pointed expression. "I know, but…"

"…you thought we could help you." The darker woman's smirk was priceless, and the roseate could only nod in agreement.

"Exactly."

"Well, one of us is going to have to distract your Dream Team…" Sachiko thought for a moment. "Wait, couldn't we just get Sasuke to do something stupid and hurt himself again?"

"Or you could just lock him in a jail cell." Hisame pointed out, never wanting to hurt someone for no good reason.

"That works." Sakura said brightly, flopping back against the bed. "Now who wants to do the honours?"

"Leave it to us." Looking like the pyromaniac she was, Sachiko grabbed Hisame's arm and pulled her from the room.

Of course Sakura was a bit disappointed by not being able to lock up the spiky-haired Uchiha, but she had to keep up the 'I'm totally innocent' act.

But this would be fun, and lots of it.

* * *

"Are you sure we're not being followed?" Sakura said breathlessly as she slid into the front seat, buckling in as Sachiko climbed in next to her.

"Positive. Hisame's gonna hold them off until we scram, and then meet us later." The redhead replied, waggling her eyebrows impishly.

A laugh escaped Sakura's lips as Sachiko sped off with a roar of the engine. "I can't say that Sasuke nor Naruto will be too pleased when we return… _If _we return."

"I most certainly wouldn't be. Locking Sasuke's finger in a jail cell door with Naruto inside wasn't such a pleasantry."

"Not to mention Ino's screaming… _No, Naruto,_ _Sakura's escaping! It's a trap!_" Sakura chuckled, mimicking the blonde's tone with a sarcastic hint.

"Naruto's reply was priceless, honestly… _SORRY INO, I CAN'T HEAR YOU: I'M TOO BUSY SAVING SASUKE._"

"Talk about a hero complex, 'eh? As much as I love the kid I can't help but think he'd be better off locked in a room somewhere."

The two women snorted in agreement.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Sachiko said after a while, turning this way and that and smacking a few zombies on her way around. "I don't remember you telling me."

The roseate sighed, her lips thinning into a grim line. "We need to go to the Uchiha Corps building. The truth is there."

"Talk about cliché, Sakura," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You really think you couldn't have worded that better?"

She blushed. "Shut up, woman, before I set your hair on fire. Let's just drive."

"Whatever. We both know that's not the only reason you're going there." The redhead teased her, smirking. "You're worried about your precious _Itachi-kuuuuun._"

"I said shut up, Sachiko."

Said woman blinked. She had never heard that tone out of the compassionate medic, nor had she ever seen her crack her knuckles with a dark expression. It would probably be better if she obeyed this time.

"Yes ma'am. Just tell me where to go."

**August 8th, 3:33 AM**

**B1, West Entrance**

**Uchiha Corps, Downtown Tokyo**

Jukai was pissed off.

Everything had gone just fine during the meeting with the boss and during the time it took to travel to team six's location, and meeting them was okay. They (Al and Tora) had listened just fine—well, Tora didn't really get a choice, as he had been the silver-haired man's bitch since day one of the zombiepocalypse. The poor kid hardly knew what to do with himself and was pretty much alive by fluke… Fluke being Akatsuki's "Protection Program".

This 'program' had been developed just as the virus surfaced—for a price you could get weaponry and basic protection, and payment wouldn't come 'til later. Most people agreed without really looking at the fine print but ended up dead in most cases anyway, either by the virus or by Akatsuki's own hand.

See, 'payment' was basically unpaid employment. When it came down to it the underground gang would need favours from people that were expendable, and weren't rich, powerful or influential enough to be a part of the actual group. It was tactical manipulation and it was sheer genius: if one didn't do their job well enough they could be offed, no strings attached. There were no police around anymore anyway, and no one bothered to build relationships in case they became infected. One favour was enough in most cases, but Jukai was slowly gaining trust.

He was pretty good at what he did, having been a bad guy before this whole thing began. His club was a hit with gangs and therefore he knew plenty of vital information, and was bribing the redmoon group before this whole 'war' even began. Not that it had worked. The only reason he was working for them now was the same reason as everyone else: protection.

A lot of people had refused doing favours, and ended up dead. You couldn't get out anymore even if you wanted to: the world may be dead, but they still knew everything. It was ridiculous and fairly frightening.

Irregardless, Jukai was now what one could call a 'manager'. He helped teams finish the job and ended up with perks himself: proper weapons, transport, his life. But this time it seemed that he would not win this round.

The two he was paired with were _impossible_. Tora didn't want to do anything on his own and seemed to have a hard time pulling the trigger when his own life was in danger, and Al didn't care either way. He was neutral by exterior, but it was obvious he was a good guy—he had been itching for the chance to get out since the second he was recruited, apparently.

By the time Jukai learned of this, they were screwed. They weren't supposed to run into the target before the mission was complete—hell, she was supposed to be _dead_.

But she had somehow ended up at the same location as them, at the same time. Actually, she had been there first with a redheaded woman, and was already trying to crack the lock on the door.

He had called to her, ignoring Tora's griping. "Hey, who the hell're you?"

She had turned and raised a pale brow. "Haruno Sakura, and this is Haretsu Sachiko. What's it to you?"

"Well, you see, it's my job to get in here."

Both of the women had laughed, though the sound was not at all pleasant. Tension was palpable in the air.

"And who, may I ask, has this ungodly power to assign jobs in this environment?"

The dichromatic-eyed man's hesitancy was met by more laughter, but Al answered for him. "Akatsuki. Why are you—"

His sentence was cut off by gunfire, barely missing his face. "Whoa, what the hell was that for! You could've killed me!"

Despite the severity of the situation, Jukai facepalmed. Didn't anyone tell him who their target was? The woman was not supposed to know who they were working for under any circumstance. "Al, you need to shut up."

"Agreed." That was the redhead, who seemed unfazed by the situation, and had a wicked-looking machine gun clenched in her well-manicured fingers. "You guys had better leave, or I swear we'll kill you."

"You really think you can? Bring it on, bitch."

He shouldn't have said that. He really, really should have just shut up. If he would have he was pretty sure the pretty girls wouldn't have started firing openly on them, causing all three to curse and jump out of the way before drawing their weapons and firing back. Thank the gods for all the crates, because they created great cover from the flying bullets. The women were surprisingly accurate, having skinned his hand more than once.

"Fucking hell. This was not supposed to happen."

"Jukai-sama, can't we just hit them?" Tora asked, eyes wide and chest heaving. Al seemed unfazed, not bothering to fire but instead was leaning back, apparently comfortable.

"I'd love to, but in case you can't tell, their ammo is seemingly endless, which really sucks for us."

There was no reply from the greenette, but instead a quiet whimper followed by the click of a gun.

"You know what else really sucks for you?"

Jukai's lips thinned. The voice was cool and feminine, holding an undertone of honeyed venom. This was it and he knew it, and slowly looked up to meet his maker, who was holding a gun to his head and Tora's.

Well shit.

"What sucks for us?" His voice was calm in the face of defeat: he refused to lose the last bit of his dignity in face of death.

"The fact that I'm not kind enough to blow your brains out." The woman smirked, navy eyes glittering with satisfaction as she shot a hole in his leg. Tora yelped but Juaki simply hissed, gritting his teeth and not allowing her to know the considerable amount of pain he was in.

"Now you with the green hair—stay here." One heeled boot nudged Jukai's leg, and the man bit back a strangled groan. "You taking the nap…"

"I'm a hostage. I mean no harm." That was Al's reply, his voice blank.

"Then you stay here. Frosty, you're coming with me."

Jukai could feel himself forced onto his feet, the strain on his damaged leg causing him to double over. Spots popped in front of his eyes and he hissed at the pain, but he felt the woman shove him forwards. His vision was too dark to see what was coming, but he did see that there was a door… A door that was strained from the amount of zombies trying to get through. The tell-tale moans filled the air, the scraping of nails an eerie undertone. He realized in that second what was going to happen.

He was going to die, and this sadistic bitch was going to zombify him before she killed him.

Fuck.

There was no way out, he knew, and only mere seconds before she threw him out into the horde. Contrary to his previous thought, she stopped him just before the door. "Any last words, Frosty?"

Dichromatic eyes rolled at the question. "Yeah. You're seriously going to regret this."

"I'm sure," she yawned, nudging him forward with the muzzle of her gun. "Now get the hell out."

"You're making me walk?"

"Yes. You're not worth our time, lackey."

"Well then. Thanks for the compliment."

"Anytime." He could hear her smirk as he reached for the door, and pulled it open slowly.

Within moments the stench broke through, and mottled, grey hands reached towards him. He could feel the fingers graze the fabric of his shirt, feel the gust of their nasty breath. Fingers scratched through his shirt and against the skin, infecting him with the minutest amount of toxin… And then an idea came.

Jukai didn't have the chance to really plan it fully before he felt a booted heel in his back, kicking him into the ravenous crowd.

As life left him a smile remained on his face… Yes, those girls would pay.

"Is that all? Seriously?"

Sakura laughed at the redhead's response, unbelieving at how disappointed she sounded as Hisame filled them on what happened to 'Frosty'. Zombification wasn't exactly the best way to kill someone—it only added to the horde, which wasn't exactly a good thing—but it was immensely satisfying. Besides, it wasn't like he'd come back, right?

"Yeah, that's all, Sachi." The navy-eyed woman sounded about as amused as Sakura, though her expression fell slightly when she saw the door was still sealed shut. "Didn't you guys figure out how to get it open?"

"Well, we were kinda distracted by a firefight." Sakura replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "'scuse us for not wanting to die."

"Besides, we'd rather do it with you here—what if the door closes after we get inside?"

"…Touché, Sachiko." The redhead swooped into a low, mock bow.

Their mindless chatter didn't mean a whole lot to the young medic, in all honesty. She wanted to get into this room more than anyone would think, but the area they were in jogged some suppressed or forgotten memory.

How the hell could she have forgotten a place like this? There was no good reason for that, except that someone must have purposely made her forget. Her memory had disappeared from the ages of fourteen to eighteen, and trying to remember it oftentimes gave her a wicked headache, like the one she had now as her brow creased and she bit her lip, pulling forth her past and trying to sift through.

She could see her home, her mother, her father… Going to school and picking berries from the trees near the yellow house she has lived in as a child, dancing through the falling leaves and past the abandoned graveyard. She had never been allowed past that, though, and every time she drew near it her mind would tell her she had better things to do, and she would turn back and go the way she came… Aha! There was that stabbing pain again! It seemed that every time she tried to recall anything off about her past her head would hurt and not want to continue thinking about things that were related to it, just like the invisible barrier would make her forget what she was doing.

The more she pressed on through the memories the more it hurt, until she finally sank to her knees with a cry of surprise at the pounding within her cranium. It was more painful than anything she had experienced in her life, stars popping in front of her eyes as her vision went black… And then she saw it.

In her basement, there was a room exactly like this behind the north-eastern wall, in the closet of her father's workroom. There were benches of soldering equipment and metals everywhere, cases full of locked things. They had funny, glowing keypads, and Sakura remembered playing with them when she was too young to know better. The combinations… She had tried them over and over again, until finally she tried something out of the ordinary.

She had added the dates of their birthdays, in month/day format: 03/28 for her, 11/14 for her father and 09/30 for her mother, and the total came to ninety-five. The number hadn't seemed big enough but something told her it was along the same lines as this, so she had added their ages together—she was nine, her father was fifty-one, her mother was thirty-two: that total came to ninety-two. Multiplying them together gave her eight thousand seven hundred-forty, and when she had tried that the lock had opened.

That had to be it. It had to…

Just as she felt she was going to fall over she felt a hand on her back, steadying her as water was splashed on her face. Sakura gasped for air and the contact, blinking away the tears from the pain and from the memory… She had been yelled at and praised at the same time, she remembered. It had been so good to feel that way and even now as Sachiko and Hisame asked incessantly if she was alright, the roseate ignored them and stood, tripping over her own feet as she stumbled towards a keypad panel and steadied herself on the wall.

Slender fingers punched in the number, causing a small 'blip' and the light to go green. There was a second, though… A scanner.

If she had been smart she wouldn't have put her hand on it, assuming that it would work, but she did. Sakura waited a long, tense moment before there was another 'blip' and the second light went green, and the heavy, metal door slid open with a pneumatic hiss. In all honesty her friends weren't the only ones surprised by this, because she was too… But instead of standing and gawking, she pulled out her weapon and flashlight, flicking the latter on and holding them in front of her.

"How did you…?" Hisame's voice was showing more emotion than Sakura had ever heard, and the young woman only looked over with a wry smile, taking in the looks of utter surprise on the other women's faces.

"I remembered," her tone was bemused, but still steady. "I remembered my father worked for Uchiha."

* * *

_**Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.**_

* * *

**DUN-DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUN!**

**Sorry I hurt Sasuke, but not really. I've never liked him. :D Reviews are appreciated but not required~!**


	10. IX: A Dangerous Mind

**A/N: I am so, so sorry this is this late. Good news though-this chapter is over nine thousand! Seriously. More A/N at the bottom so you can get to the story. **

* * *

_**I'm searching for answers 'cause something's not right,**_

_**I'll follow the signs up close to the fire,**_

_**I fear that soon you'll reveal your dangerous mind…**_

_-A Dangerous Mind, Within Temptation_

_

* * *

_

_So we got into the room. Yay for us. _

_Well, it was a good thing at first, but then all of us realized that if my father worked for Uchiha, he had played a part in everything that had happened – and since I had known codes, apparently I did too. _

_When I was a child, the locked doors and safes everywhere weren't things that I really noticed. As I got older and my father's appearances became less frequent and he spent more time behind one of those locked doors, something in my gut told me that I needed to find what was happening with him. He had always been a family man – hence my usage of ages and birthdays when trying to figure out a code. He had always told me how he thought, almost as if he was preparing me with something. _

_When I look back on it, I believe he was. He became gaunt and pale, hardly ate, and spent all his time in either the locked room in the basement or the gym. He had me trained in weaponry and in martial arts, always saying "Just in case, Sakura. Just in case."  
_

_I'm certainly grateful for it now, but then one day, he just... stopped. Stopped working, stopped caring, stopped doing anything. _

_This part of my memory is painful to remember. I was fourteen, going through the graveyard near my home, and I heard a voice – a male's voice. He was talking to someone about a formula, and how he couldn't get it. I walked in on the conversation and he hung up – his eyes flashed red before he spoke to me. _

"_**Well, shouldn't you be inside?"**_

_He was smiling a bit, his thin lips tugged up at one corner. I hardly noticed at the time, but he looked so tired. Insomnia lines cut down his cheeks, his face pale and hands terribly cold. I remember back talking this stranger, and then a bright white light. _

_Funny thing, though, I didn't remember his face as a whole. I remember looking right at it, and that it's awfully familiar now, but not the features or how they were put together. But now… Now that I'm back in this place, I remember everything from those years I forgot. _

_I remember my father and mother arguing, and I remember her telling him that he'd be the end of her and me. I remember her pulling me roughly by my arm through the door, my father yelling that she couldn't have me, and then a gunshot before my face became wet._

_I remember watching my mother slide down the door, eyes open and glassy and blood leaking from the slightly smoking hole in her forehead. I remember looking at it and feeling confusion, but not fear or anguish; I remember my father shoving the weapon back in his pocket and holding me close, murmuring soft words that washed right over me. _

_I remember the years after that: taking all of my classes online, avoiding people and places. I remember skipping my graduation. I remember wandering the halls in my large home like a ghost, unable to place the emotions that I felt. _

_I remember the night of October 15__th__. I was eighteen when my father came home with a fever. I __remember caring for him, and dabbing his forehead with a cool cloth. I remember as he began to wither and die, writing the last of his will before finally passing a week later. _

_I remember not moving him. I remember leaving the house and finding my own place with what he left me, but realizing I had no things. I remember coming back to the house and going to my room and beginning to pack, but then I heard a groan and shuffle of footsteps. I remember tensing, but feeling somewhat unconcerned as the sound grew louder. I remember wanting to welcome my own death._

_I remember the door opening, and a rotting hand poking through. I remember lifting my eyes to the mirror and just catching a glimpse in the mirror of my father's decomposing corpse shambling towards me, but not screaming. I remember hearing the front door open faintly, and the soft click of a man's shoes against the floor, but not calling to him or wondering why he was here. I remember just looking at the walking cadaver that used to be my father and not feeling a damn thing except the tears running down my cheeks. _

_Then I remember a shot, and it – he – fell. _

_I remember looking up, not bothering to wipe the slime from my face. I remember seeing the man holding the gun, wearing his suit and a blank expression. I remember rising as he lowered his gun and moving towards him, and I remember that he took me into his arms as I cried and cried. I remember his voice and scent, the feeling of his hands in my hair, the way his arms tightened with each shuddering breath. _

_I remember this man was Uchiha Itachi. _

**August 8****th****, 3:42 AM**

**B1, West Entrance**

**Uchiha Corps, Downtown Tokyo**

"Your father WHAT?"

Sakura winced at the sound of the dual exclamation, but was hardly surprised by it. After reopening the eye she had shut and wiping the saliva from her face, she gave a short nod.

"Yeah." Sakura replied, sighing quietly. "My father worked for Uchiha. I remember it now – he was a scientist."

The two women beside her blinked in unison, confused. Hisame spoke first.

"How could you possibly forget something like that? That's really important!" Sachiko nodded in agreement.

"And why would your prints work for the scanner?" The redhead added. An expression of confusion flickered across the roseate's features, but she soon parted her lips to reply.

"I don't know, you guys. I really don't." Sakura shrugged. "But I think its best if we don't complain about it, considering that if we want to figure out what the hell is going on here, we can't afford to waste time."

There was a pregnant pause before the women nodded in agreement.

Sakura's lips tugged into a tired smile as she reached back, pulling her shotgun from its holster. "Alright then. Let's go!"

**August 8****th****, 3:56 AM**

**B1, West Entrance**

**Uchiha Corps, Downtown Tokyo**

"Are you sure he's here?" Tora whispered nervously into his cellphone, wiping the sweat from the back of his neck before clearing his throat. "Because I still hear zombies and I really d-don't want to do this…"

There was a crackle of static (Tora took that as a groan of frustration) before the other end replied. _"Yes, we're sure. The tracking device is still in effect and we need him here as quickly as possible so that we can finish the job." _

The green-haired boy let out a whimper. "Konan, I don't think this is a good idea."

"_Nobody cares what you think, Tora. Get the body and get out."_

The boy made a sound of protest as the line went dead, the dull sound of a dial tone reaching his ears. This wasn't fair! He had never meant for any of this to happen or for the mission to fail, and he definitely did not want to be in debt to people like the Akatsuki. They had provided protection, but it wasn't worth everything that was going on now.

A small sigh escaped his lips as green brows knitted, leaning his head against the door that Jukai had been kicked out of. He couldn't hear any moans or scratching, which meant that the zombies had probably had their meal and left when no one else was heard inside. The young man shuddered at the thought. Gross, zombie leftovers.

Tora took a deep breath as he pushed down the handle with a small 'click', leaning against it slowly so that he could take a look around. The coast did look clear (albeit a bit bloodstained), so the young man took a few cautious steps outwards. Verdant eyes moved left and right, searching for his supposedly-dead comrade.

When the boy found the body, however, he could verify that yes, Jukai was dead. Very, very dead by the looks of it—one did need it's brains to be inside the skull to survive. The stench of rotting flesh reached his nostrils, and Tora felt bile rise in his throat as tears prickled at his eyes, clapping a hand over his mouth. No, he did not want to be here, but he also didn't want to be in debt to Akatsuki still. This was the only way to free himself from their iron grasp, and if that's what it took, he'd do it.

The young man's eyes hardened as he steeled himself, reaching into his bag to pull out gloves. There was a dull snap as he moved them into place, rubbed his hands together, and set about collecting the body.

**August 8****th****, 4:06 AM**

**B4, South Entrance**

**Uchiha Corps, Downtown Tokyo**

Al was lost. Very lost.

Now, it wasn't exactly by choice – who would purposely get lost in a place like this? –but he had done it so that Akatsuki wouldn't bring the banhammer down on his ass. They were pompous and what they were doing wasn't right, and he was through with their protection. He could carve his own path, save himself from the zombies and whatever the hell else could be out there. The organization's plan was going to shit, but he knew they had to have something far worse up their sleeve if they seemed unconcerned about everything else going on around them.

What he didn't see was the point to all of this. There was hardly anyone left on the planet, and shouldn't it be everyone's main concern to simply conserve resources and hide everyone underground until this all blew over? Warfare was illogical (no matter how much fun it was to get a perfect headshot), and chances of recovering from this were dropping every day that Akatsuki pursued that stupid girl and her friends. The roseate didn't have a damn thing that was special about her other than the fact her father worked for Uchiha, but that had nothing to do with anything because his family had been Uchiha slaves, too.

Bah. He was becoming a waxing philosopher, which was not very cool and wouldn't be a very big help when it came to things like survival. There was a reason that philosophy was dead, and zombies was definitely one of them.

Not that it mattered much anyway. There weren't a lot of people around to care if you were dead or alive, a flesh-eater or vegetarian. His whole identity had become nothing: everything that he had worked for had gone to shit.

If he _had_ worked hard, he might have been more upset. When the world collapsed it hadn't really meant anything... Until he had started working for Akatsuki, at least. He didn't like being in debt to such an organization, especially after all the shit they had made him do.

At least he had learned how to defend himself early, otherwise he'd definitely be dead and wouldn't be able to help anyone anymore, nor see if he could find some kind of transport vehicle to get to a safer location...

And that was why he had run through that once-locked door while the girls were distracted. It had surprised him that the pink-haired one had gotten the door open at all, but there were more important things at hand... Like his safety.

It didn't look dangerous when he had first gone through the door, but now his brow was growing shiny from sweat, hands shaking slightly as he sidled around pools of blood and dismembered humans. There had obviously been a large horde of zombies here... But there were no corpses laying on the floor. There was just nothing but carnage – that wasn't pretty either, but generally it was better to know the reason for it than to walk blindly into a trap.

He doubted there would be traps, however. There was a soft sound of fabric rustling as he pressed on a door, sliding through without much more sound. The lower he went the closer he was to finding something.

Al sighed. His life was pathetic now: scavenging for food and clothing, fucking any woman that crossed his path, language barriers or not. His hand tightened around his gun in anger, gritting his teeth as he made his way down the stairs as quietly as possible.

Conveniently enough, his inner monologue and focus on moving forward blocked out the sounds of shuffling: the sound of a strangled moan leaving a pair of dead lips as the reanimated corpse leaned over the railing three floors up, then falling.

It only took seconds for those gross, gnarled hands to catch in his coat; seconds for him to curse loudly and stumble, seconds to fall over the rail and curse his life as it flashed before his eyes.

**August 8th, 6:31 AM**

**Master Computer Lab**

**Uchiha Corps, Downtown Tokyo**

Megan had not had a very good couple of days.

Firstly, the entire world was dead. Secondly, her whole family was dead. Three, she was stuck working for her good-for-nothing, stoic, clan-killing yet oh-so-appealing-to-every-woman third cousin, who was currently having a wangst fest over a girl that had been the daughter of the guy he worked for (or so she had heard) and his partner for the however long that they had been working together.

Now, normally she'd be feeling bad for him like she had been in the beginning, but now it was just staring to get on her nerves. All he did was wander the halls, bring her food and lock himself in his room. How old was this man? Thirteen? Jesus, even she was more grown-up then him. It had been two goddamn days since she had told him that she didn't want to see him ever again, but it wasn't like they were married. Everyone could feel the sexual tension between the two (ew, nasty train of thought) but he should have gotten over it by now.

That was putting her in a bad mood easily enough, but since the whole world was zombified and there was no one to repair the electricity and the satellites, her job was harder because one satellite and one computer did not equal easy findings on her part. Life was hard: she got that. Living in a post-zombiepocalyptic world was hard too, but working during times like this was just fucking retarded.

She had made progress, though, which gave her a second of breathing room. The only reason she was spinning in her chair eating ramen instead of telling Itachi was the fact that Sakura wasn't still in the base with her friends and fellow survivors, but instead in the same building they were in. On top of that, security had already been disabled on the base, meaning that she had unlocked the basement doors into Uchiha Corps.

Yeah. Definite 'oh shit' moment.

So instead of risking her life and telling Itachi, she would sit here and enjoy the little bits of alone time that she had.

As she settled into her chair and closed her eyes, sighing contentedly and slowly dozing, she hardly noticed the sound of a door opening as her cousin came into the room and wrenched her chair back so he could see her.

"Hey!" Megan gasped, flailing her arms wildly before grabbing hold of her desk and glaring daggers at the dark-haired man.

It was then she realized that he was glaring daggers in return, and the blood left her face faster than the time she had gotten her finger stuck in a pencil sharpener.

"Megan," he began, his voice terribly quiet and slightly annoyed, "what have you been doing for the past two days? I know you are far better than that at doing your assigned task.'

"I-" Megan stopped as soon as she began, biting her lip and sinking lower in the chair. He raised a well-manicured brow at her and she merely grinned, eyes closing and lips stretched wide to show all her teeth in a show of affection.

There was no response, just the sound of an impatient foot tapping against the floor.

She sighed. "I've been... ah... having technical difficulties..."

Itachi quirked a brow, his face impassive but screaming 'bullshit'.

"Fine, fine," she grumbled, swatting his hand away from her chair. "I... found her."

His face seemed to light a bit, and he tilted his head curiously. "Really?"

"Yeaaaaaah..." Megan hesitated, and winced when obsidian eyes narrowed.

"Where?"

"Uhh... not..."

It took him mere moments to decipher what she had said, and when he did, he was almost as pale as she had been a second ago.

"She's... no. There's no way."

"Well, yeah, she is." Megan crossed her arms over her chest. "The security has been manually disabled, and her signature is inside the building, travelling lower. It's only a matter of time until she finds the train and heads... well, home."

Itachi cursed, and ran a hand through his hair. If she got back to the lab she would learn everything, and if she had gotten into the building on her own, her memories were coming back already. The last thing he needed was for her to figure things out and take matters into her own hands—she'd end up dead.

"How far down is she?"

"Uhh..." Itachi watched as Megan spun around in her chair, tapping away on the computer. There was a small 'blip' when she pulled up the appropriate information. "Floor B6, west side. You know, where experimental weaponry was kept."

He nodded imperceptibly and darted out of the room, slamming the door inadvertently behind him. Megan could hear his footsteps echoing in the hall, growing fainter and fainter until the door on the end was opened and shut once more.

Not long after, there was a crackle on her radio.

"_Megan, we are going into lockdown. Turn off the windows, set the lower lights to red, and seal the doors—we can't allow her to escape."_

**August 8th, 6:37 AM**

**Dark Room, Unknown Location**

**Underground, Downtown Tokyo**

If there was one thing that Nagato was, it was suave. Cool, collected, like a cucumber. A deadly, vengeful cucumber with a wicked facade, but a cucumber nonetheless. He was in control of the biggest part of the operation, and though the world was dead, it was working out perfectly. Everything was according to plan, but apparently the big man had some changes to make.

Nagato didn't like the idea of having a behind-the-scenes guy running his show, but if there was anyone that could take him down, it was _him._

_He _convinced Itachi that something was wrong with the company. _He_ planted the seed of a new world in his head, making it seem possible—and it would be, granted that _his_ plan worked out.

_He_ was an Uchiha. _The_ Uchiha.

The most famous, the most controversial; the founder of what had been one of the biggest and greatest power families of all time. The entrepreneur, the playmaker. Everything he had said had been taken to a T... until he injected his brother with experimental genetic material that turned him into a monster (a handsome, well-bred monster, but a monster nonetheless) and then proceeded to steal the only now-useful body parts: the eyes.

With a history and preface like that, Nagato had every right to loathe the man.

But here he was, sitting in the office waiting room like a good boy, waiting demurely to be called in. Red hair tickled his cheek as he stared at his hands, muttering under his breath and ignoring Konan's gentle touches to the arm. She was a wonderful woman when she wasn't doing his dirty work, and though he appreciated the comfort, he didn't quite feel like it was necessary. He was fine: a cool, cool cucumber.

"Nagato, you can come in now."

A cool, cool cucumber that jumped nearly ten feet when the smooth, slightly aged voice called him in from the other room. A cool, cool cucumber that was wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as he got up and walked over to the door, fingers slipping on the knob as he grasped it and turned, trying to ignore the ominous squeaking of hinges as the wooden door opened into the dark room, with only a single, red eye showing through the darkness.

It was intimidating, to say the least.

The eye moved down, showing a slight tilt of the head. Nagato sat.

"You... wished to see me?" Nagato's voice was slightly choked, his throat tight.

There was a laugh. "I did. I have heard there have been multiple failures in your operation."

Nagato's lips parted so as to defend himself, but soon closed again when he realized there was no argument. "...Yes, there has been. Uchiha Itachi is a formidable opponent."

"What about the girl?"

"What girl?" Well, that came out squeakier than it should have.

The eye narrowed as the Uchiha leaned forward, clasping his hands together over the desk. "The Haruno girl. The one you were supposed to kill."

Oh, right. That girl.

Nagato adjusted his tie, screwing up his courage before straightening up. "The girl... _is _dead."

There was silence for a moment, and Nagato hoped to every god that could possibly be above him that the man before him hadn't looked into the matter, really. It wasn't like he spent his day in front of a monitor, staring at the world that he had basically destroyed...

"Hah!"

Nagato blinked at the sound, but then realized it had been a laugh. He couldn't help but smirk a bit, before parting his lips to speak. "Did I say something that amused you, sir?"

"The girl is actually dead? I heard from a resource that she was still wandering around, doing do-gooder things and whatnot," he chuckled, wiping his eye. "but if she's dead, then there's nothing to worry about. You can move on with the plan, then."

"I...can?" The red-haired man blinked, but soon collected himself. "I will, then. Thank you, Madara."

'Madara' grunted and turned around in his chair, shooing him with a gloved hand towards the door. Nagato was only too happy to leave, nearly skipping out the door and walking right past his blue-haired lover, who was dozing in her chair.

Her lashes fluttered when she felt the gust of air, catching the back of her man as he moseyed through the office. "Hey!"

He didn't stop, but instead looked over his shoulder and gestured for her to follow. Konan scrambled to her feet and fell into stride next to him, taking a deep breath and giving him a look: the one that said "soooooo...?"

"Everything is going well," he explained, his voice quiet as he stepped into the elevator. "Madara believes she is dead, and doesn't suspect a thing. We need to finish with the Paths before moving on with the plan."

Konan nodded. "Do you think they've had enough time to mature?"

"By the time we need them, they will have, yes." Nagato smirked, pressed the button for their desired floor. "Until then, get down to the labs and prepare our friend... He's looking rather nasty, isn't he?"

The woman laughed; a high, tinkling sound, while the elevator doors closed. "I would say so, but he is in for one hell of an extreme makeover."

**August 8****th****, 6:51 AM**

**B6, Experimental Weaponry**

**West Wing, Uchiha Corps**

"So uh, where the hell are we?"

Sakura sighed, and heard Hisame do the same. "Sachiko, I don't know. I know we're looking for something... specific. Something that will trigger my memory like last time."

"Like the door?" Sachiko said, voice slightly dry. The roseate could pretty much hear her eyes rolling.

"Yes, like the door," her voice was scathing this time, and she shot a glare in the general direction of the woman. "And if we have to go through the whole 'I didn't know I knew the code for the door/I couldn't remember what the hell my dad did for a living/I thought he was a cop because he was so well-trained in weaponry and shit' speech again, I will personally blow your fucking brains out."

"I'm sure you could, _traitor_."

A muscle twitched in the pinkette's brow. "I AM NOT A GODDAMN TRAITOR, SACHIKO. I WILL KILL YOU."

"Would you two chill out?" Hisame groaned, rubbing her temple. "So Sakura forgot some shit. At least we're in the building now, right? Now we know what we're doing, and her knowing all this random stuff could be helpful in the future. Now grow the fuck up and look around!"

There was a moment of silence, then a "_side with the traitor, why don't you?"_. With a great roar, Sakura launched herself at the red-haired woman, who in turn yelled something about her being a psycho bitch and then getting herself locked in a fight with the rather frightening Sakura.

Since Hisame was too tired of breaking up these fights to really care, she wandered off aimlessly, saying something about looking for a light switch. The two woman hardly cared, being too immersed in their catfight.

Muttering to herself about girls and trust issues, Hisame slid her hands against the wall, feeling for any irregular bumps or cracks. All the lights had gone out in the building earlier and were replaced with red, making it really hard to see. Besides, there had to be an override panel around here somewhere...

She continued on to the left, navy eyes scanning for something that would give her a clue as to where it was... And just as she was about give up, she hit her head on something hard and metal.

Hisame cursed loudly but fumbled around for her flashlight, twisting it on and shining it at the metal box. The wide, white letters read 'SECURITY OVERRIDE PANEL'.

Bingo.

The dark-haired woman smirked, sliding her fingers underneath the lip of the door and popping it open with a loud clang. Inside was a number pad identical to the one on the door, asking for a four-digit password.

"HEY SAKURA." Hisame hollered over her shoulder, inwardly sighing at the two women who were still fighting on the floor.

"WHAT?"

"WHAT'S THE PASSCODE YOU USED TO GET IN HERE?"

"EIGHT-SEVEN-FOUR-ZERO. WHY-ow! You whore!"

"Traitor!"

Hisame ignored the last question and punched in the number, grinning like a fool when the light went green and presented her with a new list of commands – one of them being "END LOCKDOWN".

As soon as she hit the button the red lights went off, quickly being replaced by an artificial, fluorescent green. Hisame closed the panel door again, walking over to where the two girls were fighting, and quickly forced them apart.

"Alright, break it up. Time to start moving on and stuff."

Sachiko sneered, wiping the blood from her lip. "Psht, she's just gonna lead us into a trap!"

Sakura looked relatively unharmed, but crossed her arms nonetheless. "You're just pissed because I kicked your ass."

Before the two could start bickering again, Hisame stepped between them. "No more fighting. Please. We need to get shit done and—whoa."

Navy eyes went wide as she surveyed around herself, lips parting in surprise. The other women simply looked at each other and raised a brow before looking in the same direction as Hisame. Jaws nearly hit the floor at the sight.

"Look at all the _weapons_!" Sakura squeaked, bounding away and through the crates, aisles and shelves of various weaponry. Melee, long-range, turrets... foreign items, explosives... This place had everything!

The trio split up in seconds, pursuing their various interests for a terribly long time. Sachiko nearly dropped dead when she found the AG36; Hisame squealed at the assortment of pointy objects that could be thrown and hidden anywhere on her person.

Sakura, however, just stood there when she found her dream item. She made not a sound, but when the other girls had loaded up and looked for her, they realized why the roseate was frozen to the spot.

"That's what gorgeous whip, Sakura." Sachiko nudged the woman. "Are you sure you're not going to take it?"

"'s not very effective..." she replied automatically, still awestruck. "And it's locked up..."

"You know the code." Hisame pressed. "It says on the plaque that it's perfect for tearing flesh. It would be so much fun!"

Before Sakura knew what she was doing, she had opened the case and taken the glittering, platinum whip from inside the case. For a company that was run by men, it sure was a girly weapon.

It was comfortable in her hand, humming slightly when she ran her thumb over the grooves.

"This... is awesome." Sachiko declared, touching the scaly surface of the snakelike coil, before drawing back with a gasp of surprise. "Ouch! It cut me."

Sakura blinked. "You must've touched it wrong. Be more careful."

Sachiko scowled and was about to make a smart remark, but Hisame called to them from across the room. "Hey guys! Look at _these_."

The two women jogged over to where the third was standing, waiting to be amazed before heavy, leathery fabric was thrown in their faces.

Hisame's smirk was nearly tangible as she answered the question that was on their lips. "Battlesuits. Put 'em on and let's head out."

**August 8th, 7:03 AM**

**Laboratory/Morgue, Unknown Location**

**Underground, Downtown Tokyo**

For someone elbow-deep in zombified flesh, Kabuto seemed to be a very happy man.

The dark side of medical sciences had always been something that fascinated the silver-haired, glasses-wearing teen, and when Akatsuki had contracted him to become their lead Manipulator, there was no way he could say no—the only person that could have stopped him was part of him now, courtesy of his own handiwork. It was always strange, having someone talking in your ear, but that was the price to pay for being a marvel of engineering.

Besides, it had been fun. He had the talent and the supplies, the will and stomach to succeed at this type of thing.

'This type of thing' being human experimentation, a habit he had picked up from his old master, Orochimaru. He had thought about it as a kid, but the now-deceased man had really brought it out in him. Evil genius thing aside, Orochimaru had been good to him, if not a bit... pushy.

Regardless, this was what he really liked to do. Cut this here, sew it there, inject him with this serum... He liked to create. This was his _art_.

Ah, if only he had someone that still appreciated it. Kakuzu was a pretty impressive marvel of engineering himself, but wasn't very talkative and kind of a jerk. Alone time was always good, though, because that's when he did his best work.

"_Kabuto!"_

Speak of the devil. Kabuto rolled his eyes, pushed his glasses up his nose with two slimy fingers, and held down the intercom button to talk. "Yo. What do you want, Kakuzu?"

"_Konan needs the cadaver now. Madara's under the impression Sakura's dead and we don't have much time before the Plan is put into motion._"

Kabuto sighed. "But it's not done! I was told twelve hours: it's only been like... three-ish."

"_Doesn't matter. The Paths aren't done yet, so we need the cadaver. Get it packed up and ready to be shipped out._"

"Weren't you listening? It'll be unstable if you take it now!" Okay, now he was getting angry. Didn't anyone know that you can't rush art?

"_We just need it to destroy. It's stable enough for that, isn't it?_"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"_Then shut up and do it. You have ten minutes._" The line went dead, and Kabuto cursed loudly, eyes growing dark and slightly wild.

They wanted something that would destroy? Well, they would certainly get it.

Wielding his scissors and sutures like a pro, Kabuto wedged a small, greenish tube into the superior vena cava, connected it to the edges so that the electricity from his soon-to-be-revived body would power it, and sewed the cadaver back up.

Yes, if they were going to rush him so that they could plot another pointless attack, this would certainly make sure that they changed their ways.

**August 8th, 7:24 AM**

**Cell Block A, Tokyo Municipal Jailhouse**

**Police Station, Downtown Tokyo**

"Ugh, Naruto, quit your whining." Ino sighed, reaching for a bandage as she patched up Naruto's 'hostage'. "So you acted like a tool and let Sakura get away. Maybe this time you'll learn to listen."

The whiskered man gave a pitiful whine, eliciting a scoff from both Ino and Sasuke, even though the young Uchiha's was far more sulky than the platinum blonde's. Of course, you'd be sulky too if some crazy red-headed bitch came and locked your finger in the door of a jail cell, proceeded to tell Naruto, and then ran off with a sickly woman who was supposed to be in hiding because every where she went, it was like things were trying to kill her (well, of course things were trying to kill her, but zombies didn't count).

And thus, Ino had thrown a bitch fit of epic proportions that had never been seen before. She had said that even Sakura would have been angry if she knew that the two boys on her team were acting like total idiots all over something as stupid as losing a key to a door. Sasuke had proceeded to tell her he didn't lose the key, but that it was in Sachiko's shirt and since his finger had gotten squished in it, he couldn't pick the lock of it and why was she being such a goddamn bitch, it was just one person?

Ino had then proceeded to kick him square in the jaw, which had caused Naruto (and a passing Kakashi and Team Eight) to roar with laughter. His face had then gone pink and he had tried to say something snarky back at them, but that was when he realized his jaw was broken, and that was when Ino had started laughing. Naruto hardly felt bad, but not that he was equally swollen from his own beating and Ino had refused to heal him, he had been emitting sorry little noises every few minutes (read: seconds).

The funny thing is that he had been locked in the cell almost thirty hours ago, and it had taken them that long to get him out. Go-go Team Efficient!

Yeah, efficient. That was certainly what they were. Between the fact they were running low on supplies and that they were stuck in this jail, there weren't many ways to actually _be_ efficient. Nowadays they just sat around, while the best and brightest experimented with ways of killing zombies.

Of course, most of the time this was just a drinking contest, a shotgun, and good laugh: something they needed in times like these.

Currently, though, they had been sending scouts out to try and find laboratories: Ino was a nurse who was qualified for chemical training, and a few others had been spending too much time talking about chemicals and reading the textbooks, so they had decided that _if_ they could find a functioning laboratory, they would try to see if they couldn't make this problem a bit easier on themselves.

Ino's team was out today (Tenten was sent in her place), and were due to return at any moment. The blonde woman blew a strand of hair from her face and pulled the bandage tight around Sasuke's finger, ignoring the hiss that escaped the Uchiha's lips and Naruto's sound of protest at the fact she continued to hurt the injured.

"Sounds like you're killing a cat, Ino." A voice drawled from the doorway, followed by a deeper-sounding laugh.

Ino snorted and looked to the doorway, then grinned. "Hey, Shika, Chouji. Didja find anything today?"

"Nah." Chouji said, shrugging. The formerly-large man had slimmed down a bit from the constant fighting, though he was still far more... bearlike than any of the other men here. He still painted swirls on his cheeks from his days in sumo, but they looked better on him now. Ino recalled the first time she had ever drunkenly hit on him –she had licked the swirl on his left cheek, commenting on what a piece of man candy he was.

Oh, good times. Ino reminisced as Naruto flopped back with a groan, covering his eyes with his hands. "It's useless! We'll never be able to get out of this stupid police station!"

Shikamaru groaned. "Quit being so troublesome. It's no so bad here—at least we're safe."

Naruto replied the mature way, and blew a raspberry at him. Ino snorted and smacked him upside the head. "Shut up, would you?"

The blue-eyed man scowled and glared at her, blowing another raspberry.

Shikamaru could sense that Ino was about to blow a gasket and put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back from the now-smug blonde. "C'mon, Ino. Come for a smoke or something."

She huffed and went outside, muttering something about zombies, Naruto, chain smoking and pushing people off buildings. Well, at least she was distracted.

Shikamaru nodded at Chouji, following Ino up the stairs and onto the balcony. She was already lighting up, exhaling a steady stream of smoke through her parted lips. It wasn't often that Team Asuma came up the balcony, but since Asuma was gone, they had taken to his old habit—well, Shikamaru had been the first, but now the world was going to shit and there was no reason why they couldn't have a smoke every now and then. They were going to die anyway: why not make life more bearable?

The three of them leaned against the railing, wordlessly passing the cigarette back and forth. Chouji wasn't as fond of the habit as the other two, and simply kept passing it back to the blonde.

It was a nice, quiet moment until the sound of swirling blades came from overhead, then the sun blocked itself out. Shikamaru covered his eyes and looked up: it was a helicopter, sleek and black and toting a large crate with a red cloud on it. "What the..."

"It gets better..." Ino said, her tone slightly disbelieving. "Isn't that Itachi's car?"

"Holy shit." Chouji pushed back from the railing.

"I second that," Ino said, stepping on the smouldering remains of the cigarette. "Some shit is about to go down."

"Yeah." Shikamaru was already at the door, stepping down the stairs. The other two followed him, breathing slightly hard from the exertion.

Ino put a hand on his shoulder. "What do we do now?"

"We call a meeting—as you said before, 'shit's about to go down.'"

**August 8****th****, 7:42 AM**

**B8, Warehouse**

**West Wing, Uchiha Corps**

Uchiha Itachi was not accustomed to sweating so profusely in situations that were not incredibly, life-or-death stressful. This was an important mission, but sweating like a sinner in church was uncalled for.

He did not care for the girl as much as Megan liked to imply, but she was an essential asset to his plan and the future of the world. She was someone he had known all his life, even if she didn't remember him. He had saved her life more than once, and devoted his own to protecting her. Her father was the one he wished he had, a mentor to him and someone he could look up to.

He had never been able to trust anyone all his life. He had never liked the people he had known, the women he had slept with, or himself. He had lived for his brother and his important people, and had only tried to make the world better. He had eradicated his family to ensure the stability of the place he lived in. He was not a selfish person, but one that was more concerned about the safety of others above his own.

But right now, he was being selfish. He would normally not care if Akatsuki took over the remains of the earth because there was nothing really to take over, but when they had threatened the girl, he had not been able to stand for it. He had wiped her memory so that she would never get involved in her father's world, _his_ world—the world she should have been a part of. She was too pure for it, too good, too... everything that he wished he could be.

That was probably why he was sweating, when he looked at it like that. Normally he would have seen it right away, but thoughts of her in danger seemed to make him somewhat irrational. Itachi knew she was down here—both the blip on his radar and the voice in his head told him so—even though it was the worst possible place that she could ever be.

Not because it was currently dangerous (it was more dangerous just _getting_ here), but because Akatsuki was being far too quiet. If he knew that she had snuck in here, then they would figure it out in a second. If they weren't trying to kill her, then something was up.

"_You're closing in on her, Itachi. She's coming down the stairs now."_

Megan's voice rudely interrupted his thoughts, but it was all for the best. He didn't know quite what to expect from her, and the fact that he was waiting for her in a dark room with a gun probably meant that she would be scared, if not even a little bit.

He heard footsteps and voices drawing closer, and instinctively set his mouth in a grim line as he stood in the light coming off the doorway.

Pink hair came into view through the small window, followed by a set of green eyes that locked onto his own. He remained calm, but couldn't help the fluttering of his heart when he realized that she was okay, relatively unharmed... for now.

That didn't mean she was really... _happy_ to see him this way, however, given the fact that in a flash she had kicked down the door and pressed a gun to his temple, her comrades doing basically the same thing. Scowls were directed at him from all directions, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"Put down your weapons. I'm not here to hurt you." Sachiko scoffed at the Uchiha, and the roseate made a soft 'shush' noise.

"I know you're not." Sakura was the one speaking this time, and he trained his obsidian gaze on her. "But that doesn't mean that we can trust you, necessarily. Why'd you come back?"

He creased his brow. "I... still need you. You are important to my plans."

Sakura bit her lip, recalling the memories that had come back to her a couple of hours ago. "Is... that the only reason?" Her voice was soft, like the expression in her eyes, too quiet for the other women to hear. "Because my mind is telling me something different."

The Uchiha's lips parted, but no words came out. He had nothing to say to that, except for 'hn', and that was not a very good response at all.

"Well, well. Isn't this _touching_." A familiar voice sounded from the shadows, lilted with a soft laugh. It was low and feminine, bringing back memories of something that Sakura recalled quite fondly...

"_Konan_." Sakura hissed, removing her weapon from the Uchiha and instead in the general direction of where the blue-haired woman was standing. "What the hell could you possibly want here? I thought a skank like you would have died from all those STI's by now."

Konan scoffed, snapping her fingers in an authoritative manner. The lights cut to black, replaced by the same eerie, red glow as earlier. Sakura could see the general outline of the other woman, who was leaning on a large, glass-like crate. Something told her that this would not be good, and she could tell Itachi agreed: he drew his weapon silently and aimed it over at the crate.

"Now children, we don't want to get too violent, do we?" she tutted, sliding a finger down the rim of her post and lingering on the keypad. "There are things to take those kinds of urges out on... Like the gift I have for you."

The woman's warm, motherly tone set off alarm bells in Sakura's head, and her hand instinctively went to the whip on her hip. "Get the fuck away from that thing, and we won't kill you."

A laugh. "Kill _me_? I haven't done anything wrong... yet." Konan's lips twisted into a smirk as she keyed in the code and pressed the green key, releasing a slow hiss of pressurized gas from inside the container. "But now you can try. I doubt you'll want to waste your ammo, however..."

"What the hell is in there?" Sachiko yelled out, panic causing her voice to raise an octave. "What have you done?"

As the lid lifted, light began to pour out of the box, back lighting the female Akatsuki's form. As she retreated. "Nothing that wouldn't have happened on it's own... Good luck."

And then she was gone, leaving behind nothing but a urgent-sounding beep and a crate that held certain death.

If only they knew how right that assumption was. The only one that had a clue was Itachi, and when he recognized the pattern on the box, his weapon was immediately shoved into his shoulder holster. "We need to leave. Now."

"And go where?" The roseate snapped, eyes trained on the now-open crate. "That sounds like a plan, but I don't know how we're supposed to execute it."

A sickly, gurgling sound came from the crate just as Itachi was going to answer, but he didn't get the words out before it exploded.

It was a good thing all of them had gotten used to things blowing up and developed reflexes, because just as they dropped to the ground, a chunk of metal flew over their heads and embedded itself in the wall.

Dazed, Sakura stood again, looking around. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah." Sachiko said, rubbing her sore cranium. "For now."

Hisame nodded in agreement; Itachi gave his trademark 'hn'.

Sakura grinned. "Good. Now, since that's over with, I guess we can working on getting out of—OH, SHIT!"

The profanity that marred her sentence was well warranted, because the cause of it was a slimy feeler that had picked her up around the waist and was now trying to crush her to death. There was automatic panic in the air, but the one who seemed the most upset was not one of the girls, but Itachi.

He pulled the weapon from his holster and looked around for the source of the tentacle, and his eyes rooted to the spot where the crate had once been. Now there was a limp body, but it was standing. The corpse—a male, he could see—was sort of like a zombie, but he had been clumsily stitched together, his limbs at grotesque angles. His eyes were glowing red, nails dragging against the ground and skin a raw, bloody red.

"What the fuck is _that?" _Sachiko exclaimed, in awe of the gruesome creature that was shambling towards them.

"I'm not sure." Itachi muttered, brushing some hair from his face. "But we need to get Sakura down before he kills her."

The redhead nodded, but Hisame looked rather immersed in thought. "I... recognize that man."

A feeler burst up from the floor and disrupted the conversation, causing everyone to dodge in their own particular way. The creature made a sound akin to a laugh, which definitely ruled out the 'zombie' possibility... well, that and the fact it had waving feelers in the air and seemed to be able to plot out a strategy all on its own.

Sakura gave a scream as the creature squeezed her middle, sending pain rippling through her body. "WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS SHOOTING IT YET? WHAT THE HELL!"

Fair point. Two of the three left on the ground pulled out their weapons and placed strategic shots into the cadaver, all to no avail. Hisame, however, seemed to be thinking, and staring at the beast with a peculiar look.

"Hisame! Get your ass in gear!" Sachiko yelled, jumping back as another tentacle burst through the ground. "Don't just fucking stand there!"

"I'm not just standing around! That thing... It's still human! There's something about it..." The 'thing' let out a roar, baring pointed teeth, before advancing on them. The way it walked... it was so familiar. That... swagger.

Hisame's eyes widened. "That's Frosty!"

Sachiko stopped dead in her tracks. "No way. I thought you killed him!"

Itachi, who had previously looking a bit confused, now knew who they were talking about. "Jukai. Akatsuki must have revived him."

"They WHAT?" Sakura's voice was distorted as she flew through midair, but she did catch that conversation. "He was torn to fucking bits! How did he become THIS?"

'Frosty' smirked a bit, the look rather intimidating on someone covered in scars and tentacles. Everyone seemed distracted, so why not bring attention back to the battle?

Sakura screamed again, this time an impressive string of profanities, as she was once again squeezed, though this time she was headed down to the ground. "Shit! SHITSHITSHIT—GUYS, DO SOMETHING!"

What was once Jukai was raising it's clawed hands, lining his fingers up with the roseate's eyes and mouth, holding her head still. They never realized how... big he was until now, given that he was towering over the pink-haired woman. He was at least fifteen feet tall—wasn't it impossible to make something grow like that?

Sakura could feel the jagged edges of his nails scrape against her skin, his rancid, stale breath against her skin. This was worse than the Tentacle Rape Monster, definitely...

"Sakura! Give me your whip!" Itachi's voice broke through her panic, and she quickly fumbled for the edge. She couldn't wield it herself, but if she just knocked it to the ground...

Slender fingers slid against the catch, her new leather suit feeling sticky and somewhat tight, but when she heard that 'click', relief coursed through her. The silver weapon fell, and she kicked it in the general direction of the dark-haired Uchiha.

She turned her head from the nails so that she could get a good look, but he was moving so _fast_... His eyes were a blazing crimson as he ran towards the creature, using the whip to cut and slice his way through. It seemed fruitless, though, because for every tentacle he sliced through, another one would just take it's place.

He was getting closer, though, and she could tell that Frosty wasn't happy about that: he roared and swiped at the Uchiha, nails grazing his suit. Itachi simply smirked and cracked the whip, wrapping it around the tentacle she was held by, and pulled.

There was a spurt of blood and the sickening sound of metal cutting flesh, but soon enough she was falling towards the ground, ten feet from where she had been hanging. She couldn't help but scream: the ground was coming closer and closer, she wouldn't be able to survive this fall...!

Then she was caught by two pairs of arms, and cracked open an eye (that she didn't know she had closed) to see Hisame and Sachiko, both spattered with blood but perfectly okay. She could hear Itachi's footsteps coming in their direction, but also the rush of another tentacle flying their way.

"Duck!" Sakura shouted, dropping to the ground. Itachi and Hisame did the same, but Sachiko was not quite as lucky: the thick appendage hit her in the stomach, sending her flying back into a wall with a grotesque crack. She gasped in pain before she went still, oblivious to the world.

"Sachiko! Shit!" Hisame got up and ran to where the redhead was, checking her vitals. There was no response from the explosives master, causing Hisame to curse loudly. Sakura could feel tears stinging her eyes: she was not ready to lose someone again.

The creature gave another booming roar, sending tentacles flying in all directions. They somehow managed to avoid them all, but Itachi could see that they weren't going to survive this battle.

"We need to leave, now," he said, looking to Sakura. "We need to finish this."

"I'm not leaving without them!" Her voice was shaking but full of fierce determination, filling the cavernous space easily. "I won't do it!"

"Sakura, just go!" Hisame called, wiping a line of blood from her face. "You need to listen to him! He may be a bastard and a traitor-" Itachi scowled at this, "-but he's right! If there's anyone that can end this apocalypse, it's you and Itachi! Just go! I'll stay and keep Frosty here distracted!"

The Haruno girl understood the situation, but her panic and worry was getting the better of her. "What about Sachiko? What if she... dies? What if you die?"

There was a rush of wind and all of them ducked, barely avoiding a swinging blow from another heavy feeler. Hisame growled at her, and gave Itachi a 'look', which prompted him to pick up Sakura around the waist and fling her over his shoulder, which made her extremely angry. The roseate once again emitted a string of curses, flailing and beating her small fists against his back.

"Let... me... go! You fucking asshole, I'll kill you!" Sakura roared, much to Hisame's amusement. "I swear, if you don't put me down this instant-!"

Itachi rolled his eyes discreetly and nodded at the other woman, a sign that he'd take care of her. "Good luck."

Another purple tentacle came flying their way, narrowly missing Sakura's head. Hisame winced. "You too. Make sure to kill whatever bastard is responsible for this, okay?"

The Uchiha's eyes darkened. "Believe me, I plan to."

* * *

**A/N: Andraste's holy knickers, I feel so bad. So bad. I put this off for way too long and didn't find my muse until mid-september, when I broke my wrist on the very day I started writing again. (Seriously. I finished the Italics, went to Drama and broke my wrist. It was epic.) That's why this chapter seems a bit helter-skelter, or strange. I know my writing is typically more linear, but now it's not and it makes me OTL because I wanted this to be better. Especially the action scene. I cannot write action to save my life.**

Regardless, no more excuses to not update: I have a laptop and a fully functioning wrist and a spare period, so this story will be updated BI-WEEKLY ON FRIDAYS (this is mostly just to sate any desire and make me feel better), as will _Fallacy_, to those of you who are reading that. This story will be finished by Christmas: Fallacy in February-ish, so that I can start on my new fic.

We're closing in on deadlines for OC's. If you want to be in _Crisis_ or have your OC in it, you need to get the info to me pronto! This story is only about twenty chapters, so we are very much halfway. Next chapter is the start of ARC TWO. Itachi and Sakura are back together, meaning more fanservice and more ass-kicking.

I'd like to hear what you think of this chapter, however, so if you wanna review or say anything, please do! I do not require them because that's an asshole move, but they are nice and make me feel warm and fuzzy and make me want to write faster (even if they're flames, haha).

In closing, please don't brick me. I love you!


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